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COMMUNICATOR
SYSTEM-WIDE NEWS FOR GSCS EMPLOYEES
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Welcome to 2017. I wish for each of you a happy and prosperous New Year. We have a lot of work to do, but I know we are up to it for the sake of our students.
One event coming quickly is the visit of a team from AdvancED, the national accreditation agency formerly known as SACS. A team will be in our district March 6-8 to conduct a site visit. The team will select a sample of schools to visit, but all schools are preparing documentation geared toward five major goal categories. We will be evaluated in the following categories: purpose and direction, governance and leadership, teaching and assessing for learning, resources and support systems and use of results for continuous improvement. Documentation is being prepared on each goal at both the district and school level. In addition, the AdvancEd team will conduct interviews while here and review results of various surveys administered prior to their arrival. The process is very intense and is geared toward improving our processes and practices. The end goal is to remain accredited as a quality school system and receive recommendations to keep the momentum of improvement moving forward.
We will know more about the team's visit in a few weeks. But, for now, please be aware that our accreditation visit is approaching quickly. Each school and staff has a role to play in the visit. You, as individual agents of change, are making a difference. I am confident we will represent ourselves and our improvement focus well.
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Jim Smith
Superintendent
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| GSCS PREPARES FOR ADVANCED ACCREDITATION VISIT |
 The Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCS) is preparing for an AdvancED re-accreditation visit in March.
Currently, GSCS and each of its schools are fully accredited. Every school in the Griffin-Spalding School System meets or exceeds the accreditation standards that support student achievement. The school district will host an AdvancED External Review Team to certify our district's accreditation for another five years.
An AdvancED External Review Team, made up of four to six evaluators, will make a four-day visit to the school system. This team will gather data and evidence during their visit by interviewing a wide range of system and school- level stakeholders as well as visiting schools. In preparation for this visit, both the school district and each of its schools has:
- Conducted and analyzed stakeholder surveys from parents, students and certified staff,
- Analyzed and summarized student achievement data from state and local assessments,
- Conducted a self-assessment of the current level of performance in regard to the five AdvancED accreditation standards, and
- Developed an executive summary from the information in the self-assessment.
Sara Jones, GSCS school improvement director stated, "All GSCS administrators received AdvancED accreditation training in April and have been preparing all school year to ensure all criteria is met prior to the review. The external review is more of a beginning than an end. The feedback we receive will give us motivation and a clear direction of the work we need to do as a school and system to improve."
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| DOWNLOAD THE GSCS MOBILE APP |
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GSCS APP STATS (as of 1-11-17)
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Total Downloads: 215 (125 Apple & 90 Google) 
Top App School Followers:
Organization
GSCS District
Spalding High School
Board of Education
Staff Only
Rehoboth Road Middle
Futral Road Elementary
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# of followers
224
72
61
46
43
38
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GSCS EMPLOYEE REFERRAL BONUS
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"Sometimes people will hear you better if you speak with a voice of compassion instead of authority. They long to be understood more than
to be lectured."
~ Dodinsky
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EQUITY AND PERFORMANCE-BASED BUDGETING
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 As part of the recommendations from the curriculum audit, the system is changing the way school personnel and budget allotments are done. The changes focus on equity and performance-based budgeting. Equity involves recognizing the differences between schools that should be taken into account when allocating resources versus treating all schools equally. Performance-based budgeting establishes expectations up front for the investments made in our budgeting process. The process involves a higher level of measurement for investments made in different initiatives.
GSCS Chief Financial Officer Ryan McLemore stated, "I believe that implementing these curriculum audit recommendations will have a positive impact on our school system. This process will allow us to be more targeted and have higher expectations for the investments the district makes for our students."
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SLDS PAGE VIEWS
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For schools to receive "Exceeding the Bar" points in CCRPI, half of the teachers in the school have to have 500 or more page views in SLDS during the year.
These teachers have exceeded 500 page views:
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Teacher
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# of Views
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School
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Bowen, Jessica
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761
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CAMS
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Pittman, Felisha
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644
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CAMS
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Cheek-Spitler, Denise
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817
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KRMS
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Mayfield, Heather
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997
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RRMS
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Thompson, Shannon
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760
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RRMS
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Hamilton, Jena
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601
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Atkinson Elementary
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Parker, LaTesa
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1432
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Atkinson Elementary
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McGee, Latoya
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642
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Moore Elementary
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Heather Mayfield at RRMS said, "I use SLDS to view historical data to help ensure that I am giving my students work that meets their needs."
Dr. LaTesa Parker at Atkinson Elementary stated, "For the past couple of years, I have primarily used SLDS for GoFar. I like the bank of old test questions. I go through through it and pick questions that are aligned to what I am currently teaching in class. I find 10 questions at different levels and place them on our school's Common Formative Assessment template then I can upload it into Mastery Connect. I prefer to create my own assessments based on (more aligned to) what I've taught rather than use assessments that others have uploaded to Mastery Connect."
Click
HERE to view the full list of school and teacher page views.
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IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING WITH NON-VERBAL SKILLS
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Good nonverbal skills show you're really listening. Keep these tips handy next time you're having a conversation with someone who may need help:
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GSCS Athletic Director Eddie Payne has been recognized by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) as a Certified Master Athletic Administrator.
Eddie earned this distinction for demonstrating exemplary knowledge and participating in ongoing professional development in the field of interscholastic athletic administration. The voluntary certification process included a thorough evaluation of the candidate's educational background, experience, NIAAA Leadership Courses and professional contributions. It is culminated with a practical written project.
Eddie Payne is one of a very elite group of interscholastic athletic administrators nationwide to attain this level of professionalism.
Congratulations!
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GSCS Instructional Technology Coach Leslie Fagan wrote Chapter 14 in EduMatch newly published anthology, Snapshot in Education (2016).
Leslie Fagan is one of twenty educators, located throughout the U.S., to share educational strategies that have worked well for them, both with students and in their professional practice.
Snapshot in Education
showcases the work of K-12 teachers, administrators, coaches, specialists, innovation consultants, and higher education professionals. Topics include blended learning, STEM, student voice and choice, professional development, and personal learning networks (PLNs), among others. The book is available as a free PDF download at www.edumatch.org, as well as in paperback and Kindle versions.
Congratulations!
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MIDDLE SCHOOL EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
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CARVER ROAD MIDDLE SCHOOL
CAMS administrative team, faculty and staff
CAMS has been selected as a 2017 Model School to share its best practices with thousands of educators at ICLE's 25th Annual Model Schools Conference. CAMS has made great strides in strengthening rigorous learning for ALL students, increasing student achievement and building a culture of innovation. #2185PRIDE
COWAN ROAD MIDDLE SCHOOL
Kristen Specht, art teacher and Chris Belcher, band and chorus teacher
Ms. Specht and Mr. Belcher recently planned our first ever Fine Arts evening, complete with an art show, holiday music from the band and chorus and interactive opportunities for families to participate. Our students made us proud by showcasing their talents for a packed house. We appreciate Ms. Specht and Mr. Belcher's commitment to developing the gifts of our students and for encouraging them to participate in the arts!
KENNEDY ROAD MIDDLE SCHOOL
Roderick Sylvester, eighth grade team leader and ELA and social studies teacher
Mr. Sylvester is always willing to help out in anyway needed and always goes the extra mile to support the students at KRMS. Mr. Sylvester has such a positive attitude and his enthusiasm is contagious. He continues to be a vital part of the positive changes taking place at KRMS.
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Click
HERE for our non-discrimination statement.
* The Communicator is edited using the AP Stylebook 2010 edition.
Laura Beaber, Editor
GSCS Communications and Partnerships Department
770-229-3700
www.spalding.k12.ga.us
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