GSCS COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT WINS FIVE STATE
AWARDS

The Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCS) Communications Department earned five communication awards. The awards were presented at the Georgia School Public Relations Association (GSPRA) annual conference in Athens.

The GSCS 2013 Annual Report was awarded the Gold Award of Excellence and selected Best in Class.

The Communications Department also received three Silver Awards of Merit. One award was earned for the school district's website, www.spalding.k12.ga.us; one award for The GSCS Communicator, weekly staff e-newsletter; and one award for the special events of the 60th Anniversary.

Judy Parker, APR, Communications Executive Director, said, "It is our goal to keep our parents, students, staff and community informed of all the great things happening at GSCS. We are thrilled with the results!"

"For GSCS to earn four statewide awards, plus a best in category is excellent! Thank you to our Communications Department, as well as the others who collaborated with them, for preparing  such great information to share with our community," stated Curtis L. Jones, Jr., school superintendent. 

Read more...

PIE PRIZE PATROL VISITS GSCS TEACHERS

Griffin-Spalding Partners In Education funded 38 grants for GSCS teachers totaling $26,817.85.  Fourteen of the funded grants were for field trips and the remaining 24 were classroom grants.

More than half of submitted proposals were funded this year. This funding will benefit 13 GSCS schools with A.Z. Kelsey Academy, Jackson Road Elementary, Jordan Hill Elementary and Spalding High School receiving the largest benefits.

"Funded grants provided a clear description of the project or field trip, had clear measurable goals and were aligned with Common Core Georgia Performance Standards. Reviewers looked for grants that went beyond the ordinary to change teaching and challenge students," stated PIE Chairman, Jeff Jordan.  

Grant recipients were surprised in their classrooms this week by PIE members with balloons and their check. The teachers and students were very excited. Congratulations to all of the recipients!

Click HERE to view a list of the 2014 PIE grant recipients.

PIE board members, Suzanne McEwen & Skipper Burns, surprise Tonga Releford at A.Z. Kelsey Academy on Oct. 30.

 A new video has been posted on our Benefits Website with vital and descriptive information regarding open enrollment. We encourage you to visit www.gscsbenefits.com and take advantage of this resource, along with the SHBP decision guide, rates and other videos. 

If you have not been through the portal since last open enrollment, we encourage you to activate your account now so that if you experience log in issues, you will have time to get those resolved. If problems occur, you are advised to contact State Health directly- 1-800-610-1863

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

Flex Spending Accounts - 1-877-422-3312

State Health Benefits - 1-800-610-1863
 

Instructions to enroll in Flex Spending:

• Go to www.mygscsbenefits.com and click the IHR Link for Supplemental Insurance
• Click "First Time User" to create username and password
• Once logged in, click on "Begin Event" and follow the prompts
• OR call the IHR Call Center at 1-877-422-3312
• SAVE CONFIRMATION

Instructions to enroll in State Health:

• Go to www.mygscsbenefits.com and click the SHBP link
• You will be required to log-in/register (registration code: SHBP-GA) 
• Once logged in, you will be given an "Open Enrollment" window
• Click continue
• Complete action on each page and continue to next page
• **Take advantage of the "Benefit Option Comparison Tool"  By answering a few questions, State Health will advise you on which plan is best for you
• OR call the SHBP Call Center at 1-800-610-1863
• SAVE CONFIRMATION

*IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO RETAIN FOR YOUR RECORDS

Click HERE to view employee notifications required by Federal Law. 

SAY NO TO HALLOWEEN CANDY AND YES TO PUMPKIN SEEDS!
 

-- Trudy Scott, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution and host of The Anxiety Summit

GSCS'S FIRST CERTIFIED GOOGLE NINJAS!

Congratulations to some top notch Google ninjas at Futral Road Elementary School!  Principal Ben Steele and Sandra Long were awarded their white belt pins and certificates for their completion of the Google Ninja White Belt tests!  A special congratulation goes to GSCS's first completer of the entire Google Ninja program: Jessica Lalumiere. She completed the white, yellow, green, and black tests, which earned her a Google Basic Educator Certification.  

Other belt winners will be receiving their pins and certificates soon.

Futral Road Ninja's: (L-R) Sandra Long, Ben Steelt, and Jessica Lalumeire

More than 100 partners representing government agencies, business, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and communities from across the state joined first lady Sandra Deal at Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) in Atlanta today to launch Get Georgia Reading-Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. The Campaign partners promised Georgia's children that they will work together to get all kids on a path to reading proficiency by third grade by 2020.

Visit http://www.getgeorgiareading.org/ to make your promise!

BaseBall Card Basics - Nov 5, 11, & 19

Baseball Card allows you to easily build personalized reports using multiple measures from a variety of data sources. This report puts the power of personalized reporting at your fingertips and helps you make those timely effective instructional decisions with amazing ease. Join us for this webinar to learn how to:

- Select multiple assessments to change the view

- Apply a range of iFilters to instantly aggregate data 

to its meaningful core

- Choose custom filters to analyze subgroups and i

solate their ongoing academic progress

- Share dynamic reports with fellow colleagues using 

"hyper-link" technology

- Export reports as an Excel file

Registration URL: 

https://student.gototraining.com/rt/2654774485649189376

Basic Navigation in ADMS - November 4 & 12

Calling all new users to ADMS! Join us for an introductory session on navigating the ADMS windows using menus, 

icons, and tabs. The most important stop on the journey... HELP! We will show you where to find "On Screen Help" for just-in-time support and locate a library of resources filled with downloadable PDF files and online videos designed to help you learn more about ADMS independently. Register for this webinar today so you can take your first steps in the right direction! Registration URL: 

https://student.gototraining.com/rt/7023843367803196928

Test Center for Teachers - November 4

Test Center is like one-stop shopping so you save valuable time managing your assessments. Join us for this webinar to see how you can do all of this from one location:

- Download PDF files for plain paper scanned tests

- Release and unrelease an assessment to manage students during online testing

- Grade a test with online scoring

Registration URL:  https://student.gototraining.com/r/8164202952065654272 

BRING THE MEDAL OF HONOR PROGRAM INTO YOUR CLASSROOMS

This full day training will provide middle and high school educators with all the tools they need to bring the Medal of Honor Character Development Program into your classrooms.

This extensive curriculum, which uses the Oral Histories of Medal of Honor Recipients, focuses on values and how students can use these examples of courage,commitment, sacrifice, integrity, citizenship and patriotism to influence change in their own communities.