Atkinson Elementary School would like to recognize Rachel Bama for Employee of the Month. Mrs. Bama serves on the leadership team and she nominated one of her colleagues for a prestigious teacher award. Mrs. Bama serves as an outstanding leader for her grade level.

COWAN ROAD ELEMENTARY

Harriett Connell is our Employee of the Month. Harriett is doing a great job maintaining our website. She is very cooperative and caring when we need help. She responds quickly and is very informative to staff as they set up their webpage's. Thank you Mrs. Connell for making sure we are off to a great start with our website so that we can continue to inform parents and the community at large about CRE.

CRESCENT ELEMENTARY

Crescent Elementary Employees of the Month are Darlene Jones, secretary, and Kathy Pearl, clerk. There are so many wonderful things that can be said about these two ladies. Darlene and Kathy are the greeters of our front office, and they do their jobs very well. Both are friendly, personable, smart, efficient and on top of everything relating to our school. We are proud that these ladies are usually the first impression when parents and visitors walk in our doors. Thank you Darlene and Kathy for everything you do.

FUTRAL ROAD ELEMENTARY
Futral Road's secretary, Nancy Williamson, is our Employee of the Month. She goes above and beyond to ensure that we are a reliable organization! She works tirelessly taking care of our staff, and is second to none in monitoring FTE. Thank you Mrs. Nancy for being so awesome!

JORDAN HILL

ELEMENTARY

The Jordan Hill Employee of the Month is Chikina Barkley for jumping from first to fourth grade with a smile on her face. Even when facing adversity, she maintains a positive and professional attitude. She has accepted her new fourth grade position and is doing a great job! Mrs. Barkley is an asset to the fourth grade and the school!

MOORE ELEMENTARY

Moore Elementary would like to recognize Charma Walker as our Employee of the Month. Mrs. Walker is the epitome of a team player that goes above and beyond. She has been proactive and interactive in carrying out various tasks to ensure Moore Elementary is off to a successful year of transformation. She has a pleasant personality and is a true representation of a teacher leader. Thank you Mrs. Walker for all you do for Moore!

MORELAND ROAD ELEMENTARY

David Rice, Speech Communication Aid, is Moreland's Employee of the Month. David has done an outstanding job handling the speech department in the absence of a speech teacher. He has many responsibilities at our school, which he completes faithfully, and is always ready to offer extra help to anyone. David willingly offers to take on car rider duty in the mornings and afternoons, morning cafeteria duty and most recently assisted with our STEEP screening. MRE is thankful to have David on our team!

ORRS ELEMENTARY

Jackie Summerville has served Orrs unselfishly for seven years. She has chaired our National Character Education Committee for a number of years and has been instrumental in getting our character education program off the ground and running. She is innovative, energetic, and cooperative. Mrs. Summerville loves what she does which is apparent in her attitude, demeanor and daily interaction with her students. She works tirelessly each day in order to give our students the best education possible. She also has been selected as one of the three finalists for GSCS Teacher of the Year. Her willingness to make change is appreciated and admired.

CHARACTER IS CONTAGIOUS...

RUN WITH IT!

ORRS ANNUAL 5K

Saturday, Sept. 27

Registration at 7 AM;

Race begins at 8:30 AM

Orrs Elementary

Adults (<18) - $15

Children (> 18) - $10

* After Sept. 20th all entry fees are $15

Click HERE for registration form

COWAN ROAD ELEMENTARY

Sept. 13, 2014

(Rain or Shine)

8 am-1 pm

Spaces are $10 each

For more information, please send an email to: carolyn.wiley@gscs.org or mandy.colwell@gscs.org

7th Annual

Griffin-Spalding County

Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014

Dundee Lake Park

Click HERE for the registration form.

GRANTS ARE OPEN NOW THROUGH OCT.1!

The Griffin-Spalding

Partners in Education is

offering classroom/field

trip grants to GSCS

teachers. If your classroom, department, grade level or teaching team wants to initiate a program or project requiring up to $1,000 visit the PIE website,

http://www.gspie.org,

and complete your application.

Welcome back from Labor Day weekend! Labor Day was the first long weekend we have had this school year. Students conducted themselves well this week even with an extra day off. You have taught them well with your PBIS expectations. Congratulations on a successful return to school.

It was really great to see many of you this week as I visited schools. What I observed was fantastic teaching and learning for which I thank you.

I also want to give special recognition to the faculty and staff at Carver Middle and Cowan Middle. Earlier this week I met with them to discuss the state of the system and answer any questions on their minds. I want to thank them for asking me their questions. I have been told that some people are afraid to speak up and be identified. They asked questions concerning the changes made to our employee dress code, about including sixth graders in middle school athletics and the changes in the middle school mathematics curriculum. And, when individuals felt their question was not answered, they did not hesitate to ask it again. I truly appreciate your transparency, trust and professionalism.

Last month I began a process of meeting with school councils to emphasize the importance of their role in our schools. Last month, the school council members attended an afternoon activity to receive annual training and accept their positions of responsibility. Yesterday I met with other leaders in the community that are very supportive of our school system including school council members, PTO officers, parents, teachers and students for my Superintendent's Advisory Council. The intent was to get representatives from every school together in one room and collectively recognize and celebrate the support that we have from our community. Quite often the question is asked, "where is the community support for our schools?" Well, the answer was in that room yesterday. I am thankful for their time and look forward to receiving their advice on issues as the school year progresses.

It has been a great first week of September. Let's make the next one even better!

Thanks everybody!

COLDR

Editor's Note: Congratulations to Dr. Jones for being selected as one of four finalists for Georgia Superintendent of the Year!

TEACHER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Patty Banks from Jordan Hill Elementary, Lori Huston from Kennedy Road Middle and Jackie Summerville from Orrs Elementary are finalists for the district Teacher of the Year.

Candidates from all 18 schools completed the screening process that included judging by four committees consisting of last year's Teacher of the Year finalist, community leaders, and retired educators from other districts. These three teachers will now host classroom observations from instructional specialists as well as participate in a personal interview before the district Teacher of the Year is named.

ATKINSON ELEMENTARY TEACHER NAMED A 'SYMETRA HERO IN THE CLASSROOM'

Atkinson Elementary teacher, La'Tesa Parker, Ed.D., was honored as a "Symetra Hero in the Classroom" by Symetra, SunTrust and the Atlanta Falcons. Parker is one of 16 K-12 teachers in Georgia who will be honored for educational excellence in the Symetra Heroes in the Classroom program during the 2014 NFL season.

Dr. Parker, a 5th grade science and social studies teacher, was surprised in front of her students and peers during an assembly on Sept. 3. Representatives from the Falcons, Symetra and Suntrust presented her with a certificate, $1,000 donation for classroom supplies and tickets to a Falcons home game. Parker will be recognized during an on-field presentation at the Georgia Dome on Sept. 7, when the Falcons take on the New Orleans Saints.

BOARD BRIEFS

Click HERE to view the Board of Education Briefs from the September 2, 2014 meeting .

2014-15 Teacher of the Year Nominees were recognized at the BOE meeting on Sept. 2, 2014.

GSCS LOCAL FACILITIES PLAN

By law, each local board of education must develop and submit an Educational Facilities Construction Plan (Local Facilities Plan) (LFP) to the State Board of Education for approval once every five years. This plan identifies the system's facility needs during the five years and is generally prepared by the local school district's facilities department, the state BOE facilities department and an architectural firm that has to sign off on the recommended plans and cost estimates.

GSCS's current LFP expires in FY2015 and must be updated to remain in compliance. The Griffin-Spalding Board of Education began this process last month by adopting a resolution requesting technical assistance in the development of the plan from the GaDOE.

The Board of Education selected Manley Spangler Smith Architects, P.C. (MSS), to provide the needed architectural assistance. MSS has assisted with the required Local Facility Plans (LFP) and subsequent design needs for our district for decades "Manley Spangler Smith Architects, P.C. is one of the top school architectural firms in the state and GSCS is fortunate to have them in such close proximity," stated Bruce Ballard, Maintenance Director.

JIM BEARDEN FOLLOW UP # 4: TIPS ON LEADERSHIP

Leaders are "Out Front." "You can't lead from the rear!"

Click HERE to view handout.

BENEFITS OF PARENT ENGAGEMENT

Message From Jessica Layfield, Parent Involvement Coordinator

What is Parent Engagement?

Parent Engagement is defined by the U.S. Department of Education as the participation of parents in regular, two-way and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including and ensuring that parents play an integral role in assisting their child's learning. Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child's education at school, be full partners in their child's education and be included in the decision making regarding the education of their child.