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ELEMENTARY EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH
ANNE STREET ELEMENTARY
Anne Street Elementary celebrates LaQuita Traylor as the Employee of the Month. She is always willing to help others and maintains a pleasant attitude. She never seems to let daily stresses get to her. Her instruction is on point and she does a fabulous job preparing our Pre-K students for kindergarten. We are so blessed to have her on staff!!!
ATKINSON ELEMENTARY
Atkinson Elementary School would like to recognize Mrs. Renee Curry-Thomas as our Employee of the Month. Mrs. Thomas does an outstanding job decorating the stage and cafeteria for all of our events. She also works hard behind the scenes with Griffin's Got Talent. She is willing to assist at any time and we appreciate her dedication!!! Keep Working!!!!!!
BEAVERBROOK ELEMENTARY
Jamie Reid is the Employee of the Month at Beaverbrook. Mrs. Reid volunteered her time to make sure that we were ready for the 4th Grade computer assessment. Jamie assisted as we checked all computers to make sure students could easily access the practice site. Her help was needed and much appreciated.
COWAN ROAD ELEMENTARY
Mandy Colwell is Cowan Road Elementary Employee of the Month. She wears many hats by representing our school as parent involvement coordinator, STEM team leader, 3rd grade teacher and GRANT GURU! If the school needs project funding - Mandy is the one to call. We appreciate her many talents and dedication to Cowan.
Crescent's Employee of the Month is computer lab teacher, Rachael Long. Rachael wears many hats around our school. She is our computer lab teacher but is also involved in many other things. Rachael is very organized and efficient in everything she does. She stays on top of everything!! Rachael takes the initiative to do things that need to be done before being asked or reminded. She is eager to learn and participates in many PL opportunities outside of school. Currently Rachael is working on her math endorsement while doing graduate work to complete her Doctorate Degree in Early Childhood Education. Thank you, Rachael, for going above and beyond in all you do!
Karen Miller is the Employee of the Month for Futral Road. Ms. Miller wears many hats and wears them all well! She works tirelessly coordinating all of our testing as well as managing and overseeing RTI and student discipline. She truly embodies the GSCS value of loyalty. Thank you Ms. Miller for serving our students and staff!
JACKSON ROAD ELEMENTARY
Jackson Road would like to recognize Nurse Leah Farmer as our Employee of the Month. Nurse Leah takes excellent care of our students and our staff. She is always calm in every situation. She is kind, caring, understanding and compassionate. We are incredibly thankful to have Nurse Leah as part of our staff!
JORDAN HILL ELEMENTARY
The Jordan Hill Employee of the Month is Suzanne Foster. Mrs. Foster works hard to provide academic support for our special need students as well as general education students. She represents our classified staff on our Leadership Team. She is always willing to represent Jordan Hill with a smile and even goes above and beyond by volunteering for activities outside of the school.
Moore Elementary would like to recognize Dr. Pamela Nutt as our Employee of the Month. Dr. Nutt works tirelessly to ensure the teachers have resources to help all students be successful in school. She wears multiple hats within the media center and school. Dr. Nutt enjoys reading stories to the students, conducting experiments and helping teachers with technology issues. She also takes pride in capturing noteworthy moments to highlight our school for the local newspaper. Dr. Nutt is truly an asset to Moore!
Moreland Road's Employee of the Month is Jan Baxley. She is on top of our budget, FTE and particularly Title 1. Moreland Road was selected as a school visited for the Title 1 audit and Jan has worked tirelessly and closely with our Federal Programs Department to prepare. She has been committed to ensuring all of our equipment is in the correct place and labeled properly. She has done an outstanding job! Moreland Road and Federal Programs can't thank her enough for everything she does for our school and our system. Thanks for all you do!
Orrs Elementary would like recognize our school clerk, Janie Rivera as our Employee of the Month. Mrs. Rivera comes in early every morning to set the stage for a successful school day. Mrs. Rivera works diligently to ensure our discrepancy report has zero errors each week and is constantly available to help and support our staff when needed. Orrs Elementary is happy to have such a dedicated clerk. Congratulations, Janie!
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GSCS BLACK BELT GOOGLE NINJAS
Congrats to the 46 GSCS employees that have taken the challenge and mastered Google training!
Click HERE to view the current list of GSCS black belts.
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15TH
ANNUAL
HEART HUSTLE!
Come out for a great
day of running/walking
and support Futral Road!
Feb. 7, 2015
8AM to 11AM
Futral Road Elem.
To register online
click HERE.
Contact:
sarah.meeks@gscs.org
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 SHS
1st ANNUAL IRONJAG 5K
Saturday, March 28th
Registration will begin at 7am, race will begin at 8am
Course Description:
5K consisting of trail course, including obstacle course (optional)
Kid Events:
track race, run and jump
Click HERE for flyer.
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SHS
9TH GRADE ORIENTATION
Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015
6:00 pm
SHS Commons
For 8th grade students
and their parents, who
will attend SHS for the
2015-16 school year.
- Tour SHS
- Learn about the programs and activities offered
- Meet SHS teachers, counselors, coaches and administrators
- Ask questions about high school
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As an educator, it is really easy to get consumed by day to day activities of school. But sometimes something will happen that makes you see what a difference you make. An example might be something like this heartwarming post on Facebook from one of our students...
I would just like to say that I am in the 10th grade and I'm 16 years old. I go to Spalding High School and I hate math. I have hated math ever since I was little. I have had the worst grades in math up until this school year. I would like to give a lot of credit to my wonderful math teacher Lauren Broski for not only helping me bring my grade up tremendously but also making me enjoy the subject a little more. She is very humorous and knows how to keep her students engaged in their work. I would like to recognize her as being an amazing teacher and a wonderful person.
This post received over 400 likes within a few hours of being posted!
This student wanted the entire community to know how great her teacher is and how much she has helped her.
I have no doubt that hundreds of our students would have similar uplifting things to say about their teachers. Whether they tell the entire community or never say a word, remember that you make a difference in the lives of your students.
Thank you for giving the gift of knowledge to our students. The important work you do everyday transforms the lives of our students, our community and our future.
P.S. Special thanks to Sheila Mathews for sharing this story with me.
Have a great weekend everyone!
COLDR
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GRIFFIN-SPALDING HIGH SCHOOLS CONSIDER CHANGE TO BLOCK SCHEDULES
 School days for Griffin-Spalding high school students could be significantly different in 2015-16. At the January board of education meeting, Griffin High principal Keith Simmons and Spalding High principal Lindy Scott proposed changing the current traditional seven-period instructional day to block scheduling for the next school year. Teachers at both high schools were surveyed with an overwhelming 90 percent in favor of transitioning to block schedules.
The current seven-period day consists of seven 50- to 55-minute class periods each day. The proposed block schedule consists of a four class period day, 107 minutes each. This change in scheduling would reduce eight transitions (including lunch) to just three. Students lose about seven minutes at each transition time.
Read more... |
 STATEWIDE ONLINE READINESS TEST UPDATE Melissa Fincher, Ph.D., GaDOE Deputy Superintendent for Assessment & Accountability, updated superintendents on the issues experienced during the Statewide Online Readiness Test earlier this week. California Listing Bureau (CTB) is working to pinpoint the specific issue(s) that caused the disruption. What we know at this point, is that Georgia had over 100,000 students log in to the testing site in a relative short time frame as planned. The issue encountered was not related to bandwidth or the Secure Testing Application (STA). Rather, it was related to capacity configurations set on the backend within the web services platform hosted by CTB - (i.e., load balancing and system saturation). Once CTB has remediated the situation, we will reschedule a second Statewide Online Readiness Test. |
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FORMER COACH RETURNS AS
PART-TIME GSCS ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
 Coach Eddie Payne joins Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCS) as the system's part-time athletic director. He has over 37 years of experience in high school athletics.
Payne will be responsible for providing all GSCS coaches with professional development to ensure compliance with county, state and national regulations. He will oversee athletic policies and procedures and serve as a liaison to the Georgia High School Association and Georgia Department of Education. Additional responsibilities include representing GSCS at athletic events, responding to public athletic concerns, coordinating the system's athletic budget and assisting with transportation for athletic competitions.
Read more... |
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 62 GRIFFIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT ATHLETES WITH ALL A'S AND B'S
Student athletes at Griffin High are showing success in the classroom as well as on the field. During the first mid-term grading period student athletes passed 1,344 out of 1,453 segments equaling a pass rate of 92.5 percent. During the second grading period, student athletes increased to a 94.9 percent pass rate.
Griffin High School principal Keith Simmons said, "Participation in GHS athletics requires good academic standing and I am very proud of our student athletes for this academic success. Our athletic motto is "In Pursuit of Perfection" which not only focuses on athletics but also on academics. The GHS coaching staff is challenging our student athletes' to give their very best in the classroom and the game."
Click HERE to see the list of student athletes with all A's and B's.
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MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HOLIDAY - 01/19/2015
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 RICHARD WOODS BECOMES GEORGIA'S 22ND STATE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT
January 12, 2015 -- Richard Woods was sworn into office today as Georgia's 22nd State School Superintendent. A 22-year public school educator and former small business owner, Superintendent Woods brings years of experience and a commitment of collaboration to improve Georgia's schools.
"I am honored to serve as State School Superintendent and excited about the future of education in Georgia," said Superintendent Woods. "Though we face many challenges, I am committed to listening to students, parents, and teachers, and working with the Governor, State Board, and General Assembly to develop solutions that ensure the betterment of our children's future and the teaching profession."
Superintendent Woods has several issues he will concentrate on immediately. He will work to improve collaboration, ensure child-focused and classroom-centered instruction, and improve communication with education stakeholders.
Click HERE to read full list of initiatives.
Click HERE to read an article on Op-Ed by Superintendent Woods.
To view a video message from State School Superintendent Richard Woods, please click on the following link: http://youtu.be/w90fatxEaC4
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 STATE BOE APPROVES REVISIONS TO CCGPS STANDARDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATH The State Board of Education has approved revisions to the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) in English Language arts and math. Those standards were posted for a 60-day public comment period on November 12, 2014. "We have taken care to hear the concerns of educators, parents, and other stakeholders, and to make changes on the basis of that feedback," State Board Chair Helen Rice said. "These revisions ensure that our standards are responsive to the needs of Georgia students and educators." The standards were revised based on a formal review and evaluation process, as directed by an executive order from Governor Nathan Deal. That process included several survey opportunities, along with legislative and State Board of Education listening sessions. Finally, the public was invited to comment on the proposed revisions for 60 days following their proposal by the State Board. Read more... |
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TRADITIONAL/DISCRETE MATH  OPTIONS POSTED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
State School Superintendent Richard Woods today recommended that the State Board of Education post, for a 30-day public comment period, new math courses that offer a traditional/discrete course option to Georgia high schools, in addition to the integrated course option already available.
If approved, high schools would be able to offer either integrated or traditional/discrete courses to students.
Surveys conducted by the State Board of Education and Regional Educational Service Agencies found that many educators desired a choice between integrated and traditional/discrete math.
Click HERE to view a video from Superintendent Woods about math options.
Click HERE to provide feedback on the math courses.
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 "It's got to be not OK to drop out of school. If we want Griffin and Spalding County to develop, we've got to do something about it. It's not the school system's problem. It's our problem."
~Stated by Southern Crescent Technical College President Dr. Randall Peters in the Griffin Daily News on Jan. 15. |
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NEW MOBILE APP HELPS PARENTS, EDUCATORS PREVENT BULLYING
 Nearly one in five high school students have reported being bullied at school, and almost 15 percent have experienced some form
of cyberbullying.
To address this public health issue, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) created KnowBullying, a mobile app that helps parents, caregivers, and educators prevent bullying by encouraging conversations with children.
The KnowBullying App Features:
- Conversation Starters: Start easy, meaningful conversations with your children.
- Tips: Learn strategies to prevent bullying for ages 3-6, 7-13, and teens.
- Warning Signs: Recognize if your child is engaging in bullying, being bullied, or witnessing bullying.
- Reminders: Talk with your child when the time feels right: a quiet moment on the way to school or a game, during dinner, or relaxing outside.
- Social Media: Share successful strategies and useful advice via Facebook, Twitter, email, and text messages.
- Section for Educators: Prevent bullying in the classroom and support children who are being bullied.
Click HERE for a KnowBullying App flyer. |
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HELPFUL HINTS TO SURVIVING WINTER
 The winter season is in effect and experts anticipate it to be a colder and wetter one than last year's - are you ready?
Click HERE and prepare for the unexpected with tips from Get Ready Georgia!
How to Safely Stay Warm during Power Outages...
During severe winter storms, power outages are possible making your home heating system unusable for several days.
Click HERE to see these tips that the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension specialists offer to minimize discomfort and possible health problems.
No Power? No Problem! Recipes
If you are stuck at home without electricity making a decent meal can be challenging. Click HERE for delicious recipes from some of Georgia's best chefs featuring non-perishable foods, manual tools and alternative heating sources that can feed a family of four.
Click HERE to download Get Ready Georgia's mobile app and stay informed about weather threats year-round.
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Click HERE for our non-discrimination statement.
Laura Beaber, Editor
GSCS Communications and Partnerships Department
PO Drawer N
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