April 7-14, 2017
In This Issue

This has certainly been an unusual week. Two days of severe storms with tornado watches and warnings, heavy rain and power outages (even during sunshine). Also unusual was the cancellation of a school day for weather other than snow and ice. The decision to close school on Wednesday was made after gathering and discussing a great deal of information. Staff participated in National Weather Service webinars outlining the latest assessments of the potential for severe weather. An issue of great concern for Wednesday was the timing shown for various bands of severe storms to move through our area. Forecasts late Tuesday called for some of the worst weather to potentially hit our area during transportation windows in the morning and afternoon on Wednesday. Having students in a school building during a severe weather or tornado warning has often been said to be one of the safest places a student could be. I heard that said again by a local TV meteorologist on Wednesday. Our staff is trained to handle the sheltering aspects of taking cover during threatening times. And, I might add, from reports I got, you did a great job getting into safe positions when the warning was issued Monday.  But, having students on buses moving throughout the county with heavy winds or tornados is another story. The probability of high winds, severe storms and tornados during the day was too great to take a chance. By Tuesday evening, the forecasts pretty much agreed that we were in for a rough day Wednesday.  After a lot of discussion with our staff, local emergency management personnel and representatives of area school systems, I made the call to cancel school. 
 
As it turned out, our county got through the day much better than feared. I find it hard to complain about a day on which there was no widespread damage to persons or property. In fact, I am thankful Spalding was spared the damage seen elsewhere. Safety is a prime concern every day. Thank you for responding so well to the situations as they occurred. Training and drills did pay off. Overall, this was a good week in GSCS.

Have a great weekend!
Jim Smith 
Superintendent
APRIL BOE BRIEFS
Click HERE to view the briefs from the April 4, 2017 Board of Education meeting.


















GSCS EMPLOYEE NOTIFICATION
Two calls were made to all GSCS employees this week concerning the closing of schools and central office due to inclement weather. If you did not receive a call please contact Human Resources to ensure that your correct phone number is on file.
2017 OPEN ENROLLMENT
Open enrollment begins on Monday, April 24 and ends on Friday, May 5.

Informative Open Enrollment Meetings:
Tuesday, April 25th 9:30 am, GSCS Learning Center or
Tuesday, April 25th 4:30 pm, GSCS Learning Center

View benefits information now at www.mygscsbenefits.com
Click HERE to view the flyer for details.
* An informative email was sent out Tuesday from Kathy Gossett, please refer to it for instructions.
2017 EDUCATOR HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS OPEN
Nominations are open for the GSCS Educator Fall of Fame. 
 
Nominate a GSCS educator who was employed at GSCS for a minimum of 10 years and has been retired for at least five years for his/her outstanding and significant contributions to students, staff, parents and the community.
 
Nomination forms are due May 1, 2017.  The 2017 class will be inducted at a ceremony on  August 25, 2017 at the GHS vs. SHS football game.

Click HERE for the nomination form. 
"The strength of the United States is not 
the gold at Fort Knox or the weapons of mass destruction that we have but the sum total of the education and the character 
of our people."

-Claiborne Pell
RECENT SPALDING COUNTY HEALTH RANKING STATS
Click HERE to view the latest Spalding County health ranking released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin.
APRIL IS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
Click HERE for 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month.
ELEMENTARY EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH
BEAVERBROOK ELEMENTARY
Ashley Baldwin
Ashley is such a versatile support system for our school. She supports every after-school event, keeps our library running smoothly, plans lessons to help students learn literacy skills, keeps our computers running and in good shape, helps organize many events, develops student communication skills by training BBTV students, keeps everyone informed with TV news playing throughout the day, works with Darius in IT to ensure that we have great testing areas for standardized assessments, created a morning duty system in the cafeteria that is running very smoothly and makes sure our car-rider lane in the afternoon is organized and even prints the car tags for our parents when they are needed. We can't say enough about the many roles she is involved with and we couldn't survive without her! Thank you Ashley for all your hard work!
 
COWAN ROAD ELEMENTARY
Charon Amerine and Tasha Smith
These ladies work diligently in the office to keep the school's staff and students organized and well taken care of. 

CRESCENT ELEMENTARY
Erin Landers, Amy Daniels, Wanda Spear and Rhonda Grubb
These ladies have spent countless hours working to get our school yearbook organized. This is in addition to teaching classes and serving on other school committees. Ladies, we appreciate your hard work and dedication to the staff and students at Crescent. Congratulations!
 
FUTRAL ROAD ELEMENTARY
Cynthia Curtis and Jennifer O'Dell
During the severe weather on Monday both ladies came out and helped with car-rider duty in the pouring rain. It is such a blessing to have staff member like these that see a need and step up to meet it. Thank you ladies! Its hearts and attitudes like yours that make Futral such a special place!
 
JACKSON ROAD ELEMENTARY
Robyn Walker and Amanda Gregg
Robyn and Amanda have been put through many challenges this year. They have both met these challenges with passion, poise and caring. They always keep the best interest of our students at the forefront of every decision. They go above and beyond to find strategies that work and function very well as a team. JRE is fortunate to have them. 
 
JORDAN HILL ELEMENTARY
Tonya Nelms
Mrs. Nelms has done an excellent job getting everything ready for testing. All of her procedures were well organized and the checking in and out of materials went very smoothly. All of these tasks were performed while also competing evaluations, holding RTI meetings, IEP meetings as well as her day-to-day duties. Thank you Tonya for all of your hard work and for doing it with a positive attitude and a smile.

MOORE ELEMENTARY
Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade Teachers
Misty Willis, Adrienne Nash, Angela Stewart, Cardia Foster, Ashley Reid, Alicia Parker, Shawanda Millsap, Tedra Mullins, LaToya McGee and Jameelah Reed work untiringly as a team to prepare our students for the Georgia Milestones. They provided extra support to students through the Extended Learning Program.
 
MORELAND ROAD ELEMENTARY
Cindy Pollizi, James Freeman, Fred Pritchett, Kim Elliot, Brittany Etheridge, Chiquita Lovett and Cheryl Bannister
Last Monday, we had an accident in the car-rider line. These people helped out a lot as we had to divert the car-rider line to the bus line. It was pouring outside and they had to stay later than normal. However they all pitched in and helped without being asked and no one said anything about having to stay beyond their normal sign out time of 3:15 pm. I am thankful MRE has great employees, like these, who assist with dismissal daily and do an outstanding job. Thank you for all of your help!

ORRS ELEMENTARY
Assistant Principal Shavon Beckett and School Nurse Jennifer Holmes
Ms. Beckett was selected because of her abilities to do many good things at one time. She is super organized and gets the job done well and on time. 
Nurse Holmes is very kind and caring to Orr's students, staff and parents. She goes the extra mile to ensure our students receive the care that they need.  
EXCLUSIVE SAVINGS FOR DISNEY ON ICE

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE DOC HOLIDAY FESTIVAL