The GSCS                         
COMMUNICATOR
System-wide straight talk for employees
October 6-10, 2014
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In This Issue
PAGE Report
2014 School Uniform Survey
National School Lunch Week
GSCS at GLISI
Performance Matters Free Webinars
Special Medal of Honor Guest at RESA Training
Open Enrollment Info.
GSCS Awarded Grant to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
Orrs Parent Named on GaDOE 2014-15 Parent Advisory Council
GSCS 
ELEMENTARY EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH 

ANNE STREET 
ELEMENTARY

Anne Street's Employee of 

the Month is Trayon Henderson. In addition to teaching fifth grade, Ms. Henderson supports all staff by creating and sharing various documents for progress reports and much more. She also serves as the parent liaison for our school. Hats off to Ms. Henderson for a job well done!

 

ATKINSON ELEMENTARY

Atkinson Elementary School would like to recognize Mr. Padaric McCrary as the Employee of the Month.  Mr. McCrary challenges his students and teammates in weekly Math Competitions to help his students excel.  Mr. McCrary is willing to do whatever is necessary to make Atkinson the best elementary school!!!!!!!! He truly lives by 

Atkinson's Motto "Keep Working". 

 

BEAVERBROOK
ELEMENTARY
Lynn Smith is Beaverbrook's Employee of the Month. Mrs. Smith always goes the extra mile for our children and their nutrition.  Recently she went above and beyond by preparing awesome BBQ for our parents and students for our Curriculum night.  We appreciate her dedication to our school!

 

COWAN ROAD 

ELEMENTARY

Kim Hollingsworth and Jacqueline Taylor are Cowan Elementary Employees of the Month. KUDOS to these ladies for being willing to take a risk by looping up with their students. They had a smooth start to their year because they already knew most of the students and families.  Professional knowledge gains are happening as they see the curriculum connection vertically. They are becoming a great resource.

 

CRESCENT ELEMENTARY

Kindergarten teacher, Erin Landers, is Crescent's Employee of the Month. Erin has a special way of meeting the needs of her students.  Each time you visit her class, you will notice Erin on the floor with a small group of kindergarten students explaining, modeling or facilitating their learning.  She makes sure to spend individual time with each student to give them their "next steps" in the learning process.  Her students are like little sponges soaking up every word she says to them.  She knows how to push enough to challenge them, while also giving love and support.  She also does an excellent job communicating her expectations to her kindergarten parents.  Thank you, Erin, for challenging our students and pushing them to their highest potential.


FUTRAL ROAD ELEMENTARY
Lelia Davis did an exceptional job collaborating with staff, families, and community leaders for Futral Road's 

Starry Night Family Event. Mrs. Davis's love for students and Futral Road is evident every day. She works diligently with her team to plan quality instruction for her students. We are lucky to have Mrs. Davis as part of the Futral Road family.

 

JACKSON ROAD ELEMENTARY

Jackson Road's Employee of the Month is our art teacher, Ms. Lesley Potts.  Ms. Potts is building an outstanding art program that complements our instructional program. The program also provides many opportunities for our students to think creatively and learn to enjoy and explore art.  Ms. Potts finds a way to relate to each and every student, goes above and beyond to find resources for her classroom and has become an invaluable member of our team.  We are so glad she is a JRE Wildcat!

 

JORDAN HILL 
ELEMENTARY

The Employee of the Month 

for Jordan Hill is Nora Eason. Nora greets all of our visitors with a smile and strives to give good customer service. She works hard to ensure that our students as well as our parents are protected and feel safe in our building. She worked extra hard to make sure all of our FTE information was collected and entered correctly. She is a great asset to Jordan Hill!

 

MOORE ELEMENTARY

Moore Elementary would like 

to recognize the second grade team as our Employees of the Month. Salecia Akins, Nicole Manns, Tedra Mullins, and Ashley Reid work untiringly to refine their craft of teaching. They have created a student-centered, academically challenging environment that addresses the needs of all their students. It is evident that their teamwork and meaningful collaboration are making a positive impact on student achievement at Moore Elementary. We are truly thankful to have these model teachers on our team!

 

MORELAND ROAD ELEMENTARY

Moreland's Employees of the Month are Laurie Jones and Judy Engel. 

 Laurie Jones is an outstanding employee! I can't say enough positive things about her. Ms. Jones is very thorough and detailed oriented with everything she does. She is our Parent Involvement Coordinator, runs our school website, handles our Mustang Stampede with the Mustangs of the Month, assist with technology issues as needed and runs our Learning Lab her.  Moreland Road is a better place because she is here!  

Nurse Judy Engel: We love our nurse! :-) Our nurse always has a smile on her face and is very compassionate with the children. She goes above and beyond daily dealing with sickness and "accidents" throughout the day. She keeps all immunizations, etc. in check and follows up with staff as needed involving health issues of children and adults. She has a great clinic here at our school. Thanks nurse! 


ORRS ELEMENTARY

Orrs is pleased to recognize Shavon Beckett, our new assistant principal, as our Employee of the Month. Ms. Beckett shows vigor and enthusiasm with every task she undertakes. She has helped our school with 9+1 Assessments, getting us off to a great beginning. She is energetic, caring, and efficient. Thank you Ms. Beckett for the time you put in to our total program. We are glad you 

are here! 

ORRS 5TH GRADE CHARACTER 

KICK-OFF  

Dr. Ron Williams from the ABC show The Doctors was the guest speaker for the Power of the Knot, a  character building program  for young boys.
Brandi Harvey, daughter of the comedian-actor-radio host Steve Harvey, spoke to young ladies as part of the program the Power  of the Purse.
Executives from Porsche spoke to students and showed them two top-of-the-line vehicles.
GSCS MIDDLE SCHOOL HONOR CHOIR

October 4, 2014 at 2:30 P.M.
Griffin Auditorium
FREE ADMISSION!
NATIONAL 
SCHOOL BUS SAFETY WEEK 
OCT. 19-25
2014 Theme:
"At my Stop, you Stop!"

Click HERE for contest information & resources from the National Association for Pupil Transportation
CELEBRATE RED RIBBON WEEK 
OCTOBER 27-31!
Click 
HERE for Red Ribbon Week resources, templates and information. 
 

It is said that a person's perception is their reality. I believe that. I also know that just because a person has a perception does not mean that perception is real. That became clear to me this week.

 

One project that is working in our school system this year is a pilot program of audio enhancement equipment at Anne Street Elementary, Kennedy Road Middle and Griffin High. These cameras in the classroom provide safety, allow teachers to observe themselves and also capture their lesson on video so that it is accessible for absent students. The audio enhancement allows all students to hear the lesson like they were on the front row. We are still early in the pilot but it is proving to be successful.

 

This week we had visitors from Panasonic visit GSCS to see how their product was actually being utilized and to hear from the users, our teachers and staff. I want to give a special thanks to Kennedy Road Middle School, in particular, Dexter Sands, Amie Chambers, Raye Aragon, James Ray, Coach Sanders and the 6th grade team (Ms. Huston, Ms. Davis, Ms. Cheek, Mr. Kenny, Ms. Heard, Ms. Hayes, and Ms. Ponder) for meeting with the Panasonic representatives. The feedback that was provided was exceptional.

 

Getting back to the perception...some people perceive that our school system is not great and needs improving. Though I agree that we do have room for growth, you are doing a lot of things that are cutting edge and leading innovation. 

 

The idea of having cameras in the classroom for teachers to use is revolutionary. A statistic that was shared with us was that only about 2,000 U.S. classrooms out of 3.2 million classrooms are as advanced as we are. That is important! That means that we are providing opportunities that very few others are providing. When I combine this piece of knowledge, GSCS being one of 26 Race to the Top districts in Georgia, your work on Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) and Formative Instructional Practices (FIP); you are doing amazing work!

 

A lot of people are still not aware of these amazing accomplishments because we are not telling people. It is time that we change the perception, change the narrative. Griffin-Spalding is very innovative. You are doing hard work. You are doing great work. You are leading change.

 

As you reflect, think back to your classroom and how you were taught 10-20 years ago. Now think about what we are doing with everything just discussed, Common Core,Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Systems, etc. I think you will agree that we are very innovative and it's time we start telling people. If we don't, who will?

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

COLDR

 

Follow me on Twitter 

 

Panasonic visitors included Kazunori Kamijio, Toshiyuki Kouda, Hiromi Usui, Kenichi Kawahara and Taka Suguta.

SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE REPORT

 

The deadline to register to vote in the November 4th general election is October 6th.  This is a critical election for Georgia, so make sure you are registered to vote by CLICKING HERE 


Early and advanced voting has been expanded across the state. Find early/advanced voting locations near you by
 CLICKING HERE. Early voting runs from October 13-31. To make it more convenient for working families, most counties are hosting early voting on Saturday, October 25th, and some are open on Sunday, October 26th.  

Read more...






The Board of Education has had requests to consider school uniforms and they need your input! 

Click HERE to complete the 2014 School Uniform Survey. 

GSCS TAKES THE LEAD 

WITH NSLW!

 

The Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCS) will get a head start in celebrating National School Lunch Week (NSLW).  The nationwide recognition week is October 13-17, when GSCS schools are out on fall break. GSCS will celebrate NSLW October 6-10.

 

"Get in the Game with School Lunch" is the celebration theme for NSLW 2014. It's all about emphasizing the importance of balancing healthy eating and physical activity for kids.  Kids need a healthy lunch to get energized for their favorite after-school sports and activities!   

Read more...

GSCS staff from Cowan Road Middle and Kennedy Road Middle attended the 2014 Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement (GLISI) conference in September. For one of the conferences activities  participants climbed to the top of Stone Mountain.   Pictured (L-R) are Cowan Middle Staff: Debbie Hudson, Rachelle Heggie (principal), Briana Edwards & Patty James. Kennedy Road Middle Staff: Dexter Sands (principal), Jameka Mallory & Amie Chambers (assistant principal).



 
Performance Matters free webinar series launched with a bang and customers everywhere are coming back for additional sessions. Everyone is enjoying the improved format and interactive activities to stay engaged. Come see for yourself and sign up for a free webinar now! 


Click on this icon to see the webinar schedule posted on their website.

 

 

Click on this icon to join the mailing list to receive a monthly newsletter listing all upcoming webinars.

RESA ANNOUNCES SPECIAL GUEST FOR MEDAL OF HONOR TRAINING

 

Griffin RESA is pleased to announce that a real "Medal Of Honor" winner will be with us for our Medal of Honor Character Development Training. 

 

November 13, 2014

8:30am -3:00pm

Griffin RESA (440 Tilney Avenue) 

 

Hurry and register for this special event before it is full!

 

To register for the training visit www.griffinresa.net.


2015 SHBP Decision Guides Now Available Online

www.mygscsbenefits.com

 

Things to remember...

*Important Notices and Updates regarding open enrollment will be posted on our benefits website throughout the open enrollment period

*Pay attention to emails from Kathy Gossett entitled "Open Enrollment Information"

*Call Centers are available for assistance with questions and enrollment procedures

GSCS AWARDED GRANT TO PREVENT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 

 

The Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCS) was selected as a recipient of the 2014-2015 Georgia Center for Child Advocacy Stewards of Children Training Program
grant.

 

The grant was awarded to five school systems in Georgia and was funded by Georgia Department of Human
Services, Division of Families and Children Services, Office of Prevention and Family Support. The selected school systems were chosen based on a community needs assessment, the level of school administrator 

support and their plans of 

continuing prevention efforts 

beyond the funding period. 

Read more... 




SUPERINTENDENT BARGE ANNOUNCES GSCS PARENT WILL SERVE ON HIS 2014-15 PARENT ADVISORY COUNCIL 


State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge today named Orrs Elementary parent, Kathy Peaden, along with 35 other parents from all over Georgia to serve on his
2014-15 Parent Advisory Council (PAC). 


As members of the council, these parents will meet three times this year with the Superintendent to discuss education issues in Georgia. Their primary focus will be increasing parent and family engagement to ensure student success, particularly in Georgia's Title I schools. 


"I am looking forward to getting to know these parent advisors and discussing how our policies affect their children on a daily basis," Superintendent Barge said. "Increasing parent engagement is critical to ensuring student success, and hearing directly from parents is the best way to ensure their children get what they need to be successful after high school."

Read more...
Click HERE for our non-discrimination statement.
 
Laura Beaber, Editor 
GSCS Communications and Partnerships Department 
PO Drawer 
Griffin, GA 30224