Weeks  of November 19 - November 30, 2012
the Griffin-Spalding County School System's employee e-newsletter
published by the school & community services department 
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter


the gscs

COMMUNICATOR

system-wide straight talk

New Partners Initiatives Announced

a message from Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones

Dr. Curtis Jones 

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This school year is just flying by and our teachers are doing an exceptional job. Things are going very well.

 

I hope you enjoy next week with family and friends. I hope Thanksgiving Day is an exceptional day and one that builds memories for you, your family and friends. I appreciate you.

 

This week we also said thanks to our Partners in Education. They were invited to the Griffin Welcome Center where a breakfast was served by Leigh Jackson of GHS and her culinary students and principals awarded plaques of appreciation.

 

It was an exceptional gathering. A big thanks to Stephanie Windham,  PIE Partnership chair and attorney with Beck, Owen and Murray, Anna Burns, Cindy Jones (Griffin-Spalding Chamber of Commerce) and Stacy Wilson. An extra big thanks to the Partner's board of directors for allowing us to express our appreciation. We look forward to great things continuing to happen.

 
Westbury 

Assistant superintendent Jim Smith, Board of Education chair James Westbury, Griffin High culinary student Dean and Georgia Power partner Fred Rudbeck enjoy the fare of the GHS Culinary Arts Program.

 

 

At the breakfast we shared some initiatives that we are implementing and partners can share in. We began with Carol Harpe sharing the Work-Based Learning Program. Carol has 42 students which is the largest number ever at the beginning of a school year. These students are learning how to work with work-based, 21st century skills.

 

Jillian Rafter was next and talked about our new mentoring initiative. We are hoping for 30 students to be mentored this year. These students initially will come from Moore, Kennedy Road Middle and Spalding High. We want to find mentors who will develop a long-term relationship with these students. The possibilities are exciting with mentoring and how it can help end poverty and increase student achievement.

 

Next was Bonnie Harris from Georgia Tech who shared with the partners our STEM initiative and the AMP-IT-UP program. Later that day representatives from Georgia Tech visited with Norcom, Caterpillar and the Griffin-Spalding Development Authority to begin the process of partnering with the community as we implement STEM. I believe these two initiatives will change the way we teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

 

Joseph Walker of the Spalding Collaborative shared the idea of the Food Backpack Program. You may know this program provides weekend snacks to students who may not have enough food in the home. About 100 students are identified by their teachers, and Joseph shared how this program works and how partners can be involved. Because of the broad community support the program is funded for this year and will continue to build resources for coming years.

 

 

Plaques presented to partners 

Anne Street Elementary principal Evelyn Jones extends appreciation to Partner in Education Clyde Forbes of Hopeville Boys Center. 

 

 

Anna Burns and Stephanie Windham talked about the Kids In Need store. As the morning developed and we talked about these initiatives for partnering with the community it became very clear that we are truly changing the relationship between Griffin-Spalding County Schools and the community at large.

 

It was an exciting time for all to hear these new opportunities that will move our partnerships to the next level. Congrats to all who are involved in these efforts and to those who are our partners in education.

 

I did remind them that what we are doing with our partners has already helped us achieve our highest graduation rate in the history of the school system and to have the most schools making AYP.  

 

We can't afford for our partners to back off to begin these new initiatives. We have more work to do. We have to continue making strides and closing the achievement gap.

 

I am very thankful that the GSCS has such excellent partners. We are an example throughout the state of what Partners in Education can be.

 

Good luck to the Griffin Bears as they enter the state playoffs against Monroe.

 

Be safe over the break. See you on November 26!

 

So long everybody.

 

Col Doc - Daring to do better!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feedback Sought on 2013-14 School Calendar

Students, parents, staff and community members interested in providing feedback on next year's school calendar are encouraged to visit the school district website before November 28, 2012.

Two calendar options are posted on www.spalding.k12.ga.us.

 

Both calendars begin school on Monday, August 12.

 

Deputy Superintendent Denise Burrell said, "The four-year renovation schedule for Griffin High School was a driving force for the beginning date of school this year and is for 2013-14 also.

 

"Both calendars have a full school year of 180 days for students and 190 days for teachers.

 

"Both calendar versions also have the week-long breaks in October and February, two weeks at Christmas and one week at Thanksgiving. We have found through past opinion polls that a majority of our parents, employees and students prefer the week-long breaks, even though they extend the school year into the first week of June.

 

"The major difference between the calendar versions is the starting date of Christmas break. As in the past we want input from our stakeholders. Do you want first semester to end on December 18, a Wednesday, or on December 20, a Friday?"

 

"Please give us your opinion - www.spalding.k12.ga.us."

 

A recommendation for a proposed school year calendar from the superintendent based on survey results will be on the board of education's agenda at the December 4 board meeting.

 

Calendar survey 

Reminder

Keep your phone number up-to-date in Human Resources to ensure you get automated emergency notifications during inclement weather.

Reminder of upcoming payroll dates

The payroll dates for the next three months are below.

 

  • Friday, November 30, 2012                                           
  • Tuesday, December 18,2012                                                 
  • Thursday, January 31, 2013
Click here for our non-discrimination statement. 


Judy Parker

gscs Communicator Editor
Griffin Spalding County School System
PO Drawer N ~ Griffin, Georgia 30224 
color logo 
Employees of the Month
~Elementary~
  

Anne Street 

 Carol Ramirez joined our staff a few months ago and has worked very hard to support our students, staff, and parents by providing the best possible meals in our cafeteria.  Ms. Ramirez is warm, loving and very kind to all that she encounters.  We are blessed to have her as our cafeteria manager.

  

Atkinson

We want to recognize our third grade teachers (Yvonne Harris, Bridgette Jeffries, Stacey Guider and Anika White) for their outstanding display of teamwork.  They did a great job hosting our school-wide mock elections earlier this month.  Our students truly learned a lot about the election process.  They have also worked together to implement the Write From the Beginning Writing program.  Their students have shown growth since the implementation of this program because of their teachers' dedication. 

 

 

Beaverbrook 

Our employee of the month at Beaverbrook is our nurse Mrs. Cobb.   She is very busy and gives quality care to our students and staff. We appreciate all she does for us.

 

Cowan Road   

Tonya Jones, school counselor, does a FABULOUS job of keeping our school climate positive.

She is always caring and concerned about others as she leads our behavior RTI and PBIS Initiative.

PBIS Celebrations Rock at Cowan Road!

 
 

Crescent

Tina Fowler has taken on a new position this year as our EIP pullout teacher and she is doing an exceptional job.  She begins her day with her roller skates on and she doesn't slow down until the end of the day.  She helps with cafeteria duty each morning,  works with students who have math deficits from 7:45-8:45 each morning in the computer lab and then she pulls small groups of students throughout the day to provide instruction in reading and math.  She is EVERYWHERE and on top of EVERYTHING.  We are fortunate to have a teacher who is able to juggle so many things at once and be such a wonderful and caring teacher for her children.  Thanks you, Mrs. Fowler, for all you do. 

 

Futral Road 

Crystal Long and Sarah Meeks are Futral Road's employees of the month for going above and beyond in coordinating our Literacy Day competition. Both of these teachers consistently get involved in "extra" projects to benefit our students. They are always looking for ways to enhance learning at Futral Road and work with our students, staff, and stakeholders to provide the best learning opportunities for our students. 

 

 

Jackson Road 

The JRE Employee of the Month for November is our Media Specialist, Alicia Stratton.  Ms. Stratton plans and coordinates many special events in our school, including the Book Fair, World Series of Reading Day, author visits, and Literacy Days,  among others. She also takes pictures in our classrooms and at all of our events, and keeps our website, Facebook, and Twitter pages updated, as well as managing all of our equipment and instructional inventories.  Ms. Stratton manages all of these tasks while continuing to make the Media Center the heart of our school.  She is a truly valuable member of our staff, and we are fortunate to have her at JRE!

 

Jordan Hill  

 Mrs. Latasha Bryant,  Special Education Interrelated, is always helpful to the staff, works well with other teachers, is dedicated to her students, and does it all with a smile. She is a great addition to the Jordan Hill family!

 


Moore

Please join me in recognizing some of the best in our educational field, the faculty and staff at Moore Elementary School. Over the last several weeks, the team work demonstrated by various committees has been nothing less than remarkable.  We had Red Ribbon Week, PBIS Celebration, Student of the Month, Fall Festival, Literacy Days, and Thanksgiving lunch; each event was well planned and the participation by students and parents were excellent. 

You are a great team that don't just talk about it, but make it happen. I would like to thank you all of you for the committed and dedication you do for the students at Moore on a daily basis.

"We are committed to the Core!"

 

Moreland Road 

In addition to his regular elementary PE duties and responsibilities, Coach Terrell Smith has morning cafeteria duty daily, morning outside car rider duty daily, provides Tier 3 interventions to a child daily, is responsible for an enrichment program daily, has afternoon car rider duty daily, serves on our school council, assists with instructional technology as needed, and took his middle school football team to the championship this year.  Coach Smith accepts any and all extra duties and responsibilities willingly and is a vital member of the Moreland Road family. 

 

 

Orrs 

Our employees of the Month are Jennifer Brantley and Rebecca Michalewicz. They have worked with a group of their peers to unpack common core standards and prioritize those standards which will benefit all students and teachers in our system. They will continue to meet and work with our teachers to better understand the new common core standards. They are both dedicated teachers and are always ready to learn and train others. Thank you, Jennifer and Rebecca for representing Orrs in this important task.

 


 
Correction

The Jackson Road Roadrunners were mislabeled in last week's COMMUNICATOR. We regret the error. Jackson Road has garnered much media attention nationwide for their SHAPE grant.