Happy Holidays

As the end of another year draws to an end, I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with joy, love and good health. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for the many hours you have devoted to our students. Whether you spent hours mentoring our elementary and middle school students, reading to preschoolers or tutoring our high school students, your work did not go unnoticed. To those of you who helped welcome our students back to school on Day One or donated school supplies and clothes to help make the first day of school special, I say thank you.

I could go on and on, telling you about the many friends and neighbors that have helped us help the students.  You have been the community that has partnered with our schools and our staff in an effort to help them learn and to be ready for the world after high school! 

As we all celebrate the holidays with family and friends, remember this is the perfect time to tell the people we care about how much we care about them.

Blessings to all of you this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What am I thankful for this Thanksgiving? As I ask myself this question, I am reminded of all the many things I hold special in my life. I think of my family and friends, but most importantly I think of the 2,200 students that walk the halls of our schools each day. I think of how important our jobs are and how it is up to each employee in this school district to help educate, encourage, inspire and challenge these young people to be the best they can be. We are a family here; a family that is united and committed to educating our students.

Without our teachers, staff, students and yes, parents; we would not be able to call ourselves a family. We would be nothing but buildings and equipment. And Greene County School District is more than just buildings, books, computers, playgroup equipment and buses. A school district is the body of people who study and teach and learn in it, who fill each building’s hallways every day. A school district is the warm faces that greet you when you walk in one of the buildings.

As this Thanksgiving holiday approaches I am reminded of the smiling faces I see daily as our Preschool students move throughout our building each day. It is those faces that make me thankful for Greene County and the residents of this county. Those faces are our future and it is a blessing to know that I have the opportunity to serve them and all the students in this school system.

So as I think of what I am thankful for I would be remiss not to include the members of our community who do not have children in our school district, but are willing to support this school district all the same. You serve as volunteers in our schools, mentors to our students and you help prepare our students on their job-readiness skills. Many of you are willing to assist a student if they are in need of a uniform, a computer for home or a donation for a fieldtrip. You are a part of our family as well.

So as we all begin preparing for Thanksgiving, I encourage each of you to take a few moments to spend some time in reflection, remembering the journey and paths we have travelled and think about those things for which we are thankful. I’m sure you will be amazed at how many things you are thankful for.

My fondest hopes are that your Thanksgiving is filled with special moments with family and friends.

It's all about the children

When I came to Greene County, I knew that we had a lot of work to do with the children in this county.  One of the ways “choice” emerges is because people want “another” way.  In the case of school systems, people want choice in educational opportunities.  This is not a new phenomenon; it began with magnet schools and magnet programs.

Yes, we do have a lot of work to do in the school district; students not being able to read was not new, we just did not know how far behind they were.  How did they get there?  Good question, but we do know that we must stop moving students forward if they cannot do the work.  This issue was more magnified when the AYP bar was raised to a higher level last school year.  (And will be raised again for the 2011-12 school year.)  However, NCLB and AYP forced our school system to become more transparent and staff in the schools became more accountable.  Believe it or not, some people still do not understand what all of this means.

Since early 2009, we have:

• Put the International Baccalaureate Program in place in our middle school; we have raised the rigor of learning and students are responding; not all but in far greater numbers than before; this meant a re-training of teachers in strategies that would motivate and engage student learning – it's working and the students who will have been in this program for three full years will be in high school next year!
• Developed and added a violin program beginning in kindergarten; these students outscore all students in their grade level on the CRCT test scores in proficiency and exceeding in reading & math; - this program is working; I believe it is because the parents are so involved; and now we have over 100 students participating.
• Last year, we purchased a tool for measuring student outcomes, the NWEA test; this is a nationally normed test that lets us know precisely where all of our students were on grade level as compared to other students in the nation; surprise, many of our students were behind, more than 50 percent in our high school reading at very low grade levels; did the teachers know this, yes, they did – they just did not know how far behind the students were.
• Last spring, we applied for a grant to help us begin the work that needed to be done with the high school; a grant that would provide for staff needed and programs that might engage students and get their commitment for learning; this grant provides more than 4 million dollars over a three-year period to “shake things up” and get us on the right track for student academic achievement.
• Year two of this grant provides for more structured parent involvement in the learning process – we will go out into the community to talk to parents, since they are not coming into the schools.

Further, this year the following directives have been given to principals and staff -

• Kindergarten students must know the 200 site words by the end of the school year; this is one of the expectations that needs to be fulfilled in order for students to be reading on grade level.
• Third grade students must learn their times tables by the end of the first semester; parents must assist them in this effort.
• Parents must come and pick up the report cards of the first and third marking periods and meet with their child's teacher; failure to do so will mean an appointment with the principal and the teacher to discuss student progress; the Board of Education created a policy on this last year at the request of the superintendent.
• We will identify all students in the 2012 graduation class and monitor their classroom performance to ensure completion and high school graduation; which will be difficult assuming that some of these students may be reading at less than a 9th grade level.  Moreover, several more of these students have not achieved the number of course credits necessary for graduation.
• Students will speak in complete sentences in responding to questions in classrooms.

This is a continuation of work that has begun.  We do know that our students have made progress; our students have made gains – just not enough to make the annually increasing bar that they must surpass.  We have the numbers, we have the data.  We hope the community will begin to understand what the challenges are and have been.

Perhaps it was not noticed before, as the bar was low enough for even lagging students to pass. However, AYP requires that states have annual measurable objectives (AMO's) that increase every year – this means the bar gets higher and higher.  We can catch a kid up one year or more and sometimes two years – this is difficult work and I applaud our teachers for getting the job done. However, as the bar goes up to 100 and next year we are required to get to 95 percent and students are at 87 percent - you can see the difficulty.

I hope this begins to answer some of the questions our Community and Friends have.  You have heard this before, but it “does take the Queen Mary a while to make the 180 degree turn.” We are in the process of turning and it will take a few more years to approach the 180 mark!  Continue to support our work; we do it because it is all about the children.

My Thoughts on AYP

Nationally, US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan has predicted that approximately 83% of the public schools in America will not make AYP.  In Georgia, this past year, 63% of the school districts did not make AYP. Because we know what the AMO (Annual Measurable Objectives) numbers are, we know what percentage of our students will need to pass the tests over the next three years.  We know that 2012 “cut scores” for Math will be 83.8%; for 2013, the “cut scores” will be 91.9%; and for 2014, the “cut scores” will be 100%.  These cut scores follow the trajectory required by NCLB, “100% of this nation’s children will achieve proficiency on the state level exams that they take by the 2014.” 

Georgia’s path began in 2003 where mastery required that 50% of students meet proficiency levels for two years in a row.  In 2005, proficiency requirements jumped to 58.3% and stayed there until 2008.  In 2008, the Math AMO’s jumped to 59.5%, staying there until 2010, when scores jumped to 67.6%.  As you can see the road to 2014, is marked with sharp inclines in the percentages of students expected to achieve proficiency, as 2011 required 75.7% of students exhibit proficiency and 2012 will require that 83.8% demonstrate proficiency.  Perhaps this is why the Secretary of Education is now permitting states to submit waivers.

Greene County Schools System (GCSS) has received its preliminary results for the Criterion Referenced Competency Tests for grades 3 through 8 for the 2010-2011, school year.  These final results (includes re-tests) are yet to be published by the state department of education.  However, we share the final results as determined by school district records.

Greene County Preliminary CRCT Results

2010-11 School Year

Union Point Elementary School made AYP as did our Charter School – LOA.  Union Point became a Distinguished Title I School, as they have made AYP three years in a row now.

We compared our 2000-2010 scores to our 2010-2011 scores.  In General the following occurred:

In Reading, Improvements in 5 of   6  Grades Compared to 09-10

In English/Language Arts, Improvements in 4 of 6  Grades Compared to 09-10

In Math, Improvements in 4 of 6  Grades Compared to 09-10

In Science, Improvements in  3 of 6  Grades Compared to 09-10

In Social Studies, Improvements in   3  of  6  Grades Compared to 09-10

In Reading Language Arts, an AYP subject, 88.3 % of Greene County students in grades three through 8 met or exceeded standards on the CRCTs in 2009-10. (Preliminary results for 2010-11 showed   90.5 %* meeting or exceeding standards.)  *Includes Re-Tests

In Math, an AYP subject, 70.5 % of Greene County students in grades three through 8 met or exceeded standards on the CRCTs in 2009-10. (Preliminary results for 2010-11 showed    75 %* meeting or exceeding standards.) *Includes Re-Tests

3rd Grade: é 1.5% (+)

4th Grade: ê 8.5%  (-)

5th Grade: é 6.5%  (+)

6th Grade: é 2.0% (+)

7th Grade: é 2.0% (+)

8th Grade: é 3.0% (+)

In English/Language Arts, GCSS demonstrated improvement in   4  of   6   grades shown below:

3rd Grade: é    9.0% (  +  )

4th Grade: ê 14.5%  (  -   )

5th Grade: é    3.0%  (  +  )

6th Grade: ê   1.0%  (  -   )

7th Grade: é    5.0%  (  +  )

8th Grade: é   4.0%  (  +  )

In Math, GCSS demonstrated improvement in   4  of    6  grades as shown below:

3rd Grade: é    1.5%  (+)

4th Grade: ê 10.5%  (-)

5th Grade: é    6.5%  (+) 

6th Grade: é   2.0%  (+)

7th Grade: ê   6.0%  (-) 

8th Grade: é 16.5%  (+)

In Science, GCSS demonstrated improvement in   3  of   6  grades as shown below:

3rd Grade: é 2.0%  (+) 

4th Grade: é 12.0% (-)

5th Grade: é 1.5%  (+) 

6th Grade: ê  1.0%  (-) 

7th Grade: ê   3.0%  (-)

8th Grade: é 12.0% (+) 

In Social Studies, GCSS demonstrated improvement in   3    of   6  grades as shown below:

3rd Grade: é 23.0%  (+)

4th Grade: ê 12.0%   (-) 

5th Grade: é    1.5% (-) 

6th Grade: é    20.5%  (+)

7th Grade: ê    22.0%  (-) 

8th Grade: é      8.0%  (+)  

Although No Child Left Behind has its many faults, one important outgrowth of the law has been a focus on using student assessment data to drive instruction. The other and perhaps the most important is the intent of the law to cause us to focus on all of the students.  Because we must look at subgroups of students, as well as, total student scores, we have opportunities to see where student need is and what students have the need.

This last school year, while three of our five schools did not make AYP, we did see marked improvement at the grade levels.  However, we still have more work to do.  We will share best practices and celebrate the teachers who have demonstrated 100% proficiency on these same tests with their students.  We know that they have been able to obtain success; what we need to learn is how they have been able to do it.  We will work together, collaborating as we work, because it is all about the children.

Thank you

Thank you for your extraordinary support of the children in the Greene County School System.  Your hard work and diligence meant that a great campaign was run in support of renewal of the current ELOST for 2012-2016.

There were so many willing workers on the ELOST Renewal Committee and then there were the many of you who quietly worked for the success of the ELOST. Most importantly, there were those of you who supported the renewal of the ELOST with your VOTE! 

Somehow thank you does not seem to be enough to say or to convey about what is in our hearts and minds.  However, I still want to say “thank you, on behalf of the children!”

Today is election day

This  is a reminder  that today is election day for the ELOST.  There has been a very low turnout and we thought that you might need to be reminded to go to your local precinct to vote; the polls are open from 7am until 7pm.  Remember, today, will be the last opportunity for you to vote on the ELOST .

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TRUTH

"Only 65.6% of the junior class that took the graduation test passed it on the first test."

TRUTH: The passing rate for first time test takers is reported out by the state by subject. In 2010 Greene County had a passing rate by subject as follows; English 82%, Math 89%, Social Studies 77%, and Science 90%. In Science we were given Honorable Mention due to our Science scores.

"In 2010 the Graduation Class size was 143; however, only 104 had a Regular Education Diploma; That was 72.7%."

TRUTH: Greene County serves every child who lives within the county. We do not discriminate against children with Special Needs. We educate EVERY child.

 "In 2010, GCHS did NOT meet two of the AYP components necessary to achieve AYP.    The two components were Academic Performance and Second Indicator."

TRUTH: In 2009 Greene County High School had Math passing rate of 63%. In 2010 GCHS did not make AYP due to Math passing rate of 73% in the Academic Indicator section.  In 2011 GCHS has a Math passing rate of 75%, in the past two years GCHS has seen significant growth of 12% in the Math Graduation Test, evidence of hard work being done by the staff of Greene County High School. The Second Indicator is the graduation rate. In 2009 our graduation rate was 72% and in 2010, we increased to 74%. Again, we demonstrate a system increasing student achievement.

"In 2010 only 54.6% of students taking the Social Studies part of the CRCT met and exceeded Standard."

 TRUTH: Actually, the CRCT passing rate for Social Studies in 2010 was 58%, an increase of 6% from 2009; this is evidence of increasing achievement in Greene County Schools.

The graduation product that is coming out of the 12- year pipeline is clearly IMPROVING under the current Superintendent and Board of Education.

Many people in our country are not satisfied with public education today.  Do we have a lot of work to do to improve it?  Yes we do, especially in Georgia!  We have a new state superintendent who has made good first steps to  improve public school outcomes for our state.  Greene County is no different from other school districts with similar demographics in the state or in the nation. Factual and accurate information on what we are doing to improve student outcomes is essential to understanding the challenges and celebrating the successes.
Given  the latest - information provided on "good authority," I thought it best to provide you with accurate information.  This may also be more than you ever wanted to know, but I would rather you have the full story.
First of all an e-reader is a Kindle.  We have purchased one, (1) Kindle Reader with federal special education funds, for one student with special needs, as required by the student's IEP.  This device cost us approximately $200.  Please note that Kindle is a brand name.
The Greene County School System has won a competitive grant from Race to the Top funds (RTT) in the amount of $4.2 million to be spent over the next three years.  These funds are being used for staff training and the purchase of technology devices for students and staff for support of high school program reforms in Greene County.
While these funds are federal and all taxpayers contribute to making them available, our district staff wrote the grant that brought those funds into this school district in this state. The appropriate name of the grant is School Improvement Grant (SIG).  If the funds were not received here, then they would have been received by another school district in another state.  We feel very good about the fact that we were rewarded for submitting a proposal for a strategy to improve educational outcomes for high school students in Greene County.  This is another revenue stream for us - no ELOST, no Local taxpayer funds!  However, as with most grants, the funds must be used, as specified in the grant. These dollars cannot be converted and used in operations not specified in or condoned by the grant design.
How we are spending the School Improvement Grant funds:
*         In addition to purchasing iPads (an Apple product) for all teachers and students at our high school with the SIG funds; we hired three technology specialists to assist with implementation of the devices; we have also contracted for assistance from the University of Georgia to assist in implementation; we have hired a Reading Specialist; and contracted with the Southern Regional Educational Board to provide staff development in literacy and mathematics.
*         This SIG money is also being used to train teachers in how to utilize test score information to improve student achievement; it is being used to order software for student remediation programs.
*         Additionally, we are using the funds to operate the Ombudsman program, an alternative High School Choice open to all Greene County residents.
*         Funds have been targeted for -use in training staff for the International Baccalaureate program; this will facilitate the IB program growth from middle school to high school.
*         Over the next two years, these same grant funds will be used for funding a parent academy and a parent outreach program to bring resources and classes into our neighborhoods.
*         There are also staff incentives for increasing the graduation rates and student performance rates.
I hope this information helps.  If you go to the following URL: https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/Meetings/ViewMeetingOrder.aspx?S=4078&MID=20598 you will find a power point for your information.  You will also find a complete budget profile attached to the Board of Education Meeting held on August 11, 2011 eBoard.  Attached to this eBoard agenda is a summary of the program and Power Point.
Please feel free to contact me or Ms. Nancy Willis, who serves as the district contact for all information related to district Federal Funds and ELOST funds.  She can be reached at:  706-453-7688.  I would also like to state that Ms. Willis has recently spent time with community members who have requested any and all financial information.