Starting day one this school year, the excellent teachers in our schools will begin the transformation of the learning experience in Hamilton County schools to match dreams with possibilities for the future for our children, their families and our community.
Local school district superintendents are eager to meet this year’s students and share new opportunities to move everyone forward. Here, they detail what’s on the horizon and what they’re most excited about.
Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson speaks to the Times Free Press staff on March 15, 2018.Hamilton County
In Hamilton County, Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson is looking to improve technology, prepare the recently unveiled Future Ready Institutes, and much more.
“We have worked with school leadership teams to develop action plans and clear focus areas for schools for the 2018-2019 school year in order to make sure we provide the instruction needed for each child to reach their academic potential,” he says. “The action plans will focus on overall academic achievement for our children, but literacy and math skills will be at the forefront.”
The district is gearing up for the use of additional technology in its elementary through high schools, a key concept parents stressed with the administration during community input sessions held last school year. Hamilton County middle schools will be 1:1 this school year, meaning there will be an electronic learning device for every child in grades six through eight to improve access to learning tools available online.
At the high school level, the focus is on work readiness. Thirteen Future Ready Institutes at high schools across the district will feature technology used in workplaces across the Tennessee Valley to allow teens to experience and prepare for the careers in this area.
“Last year set the foundation for building a school experience that can match learning opportunities with the dreams of children that will ignite their passion for learning,” Johnson says, referencing the launch of the institutes, which focus on career fields, like East Ridge High School’s Institute of Building and Design and Ooltewah High School’s Institute of Architecture & Engineering Design.
Denia ReeseCatoosa County
Last year, Catoosa County Schools began exploring the possibility of a College and Career Academy.
“With overwhelming support from parents, teachers, students and the business community, a steering committee of school personnel and business leaders began developing plans to open an academy,” says district Superintendent Denia Reese, who plans to spend the upcoming year further exploring the possibilities and potential partnerships with the community.
Reese is also looking forward to the school improvement projects coming from ESPLOST V, a voter-enacted 1-cent sales tax marked for capital school projects – like the renovation of the original section of Graysville Elementary School, the oldest building in the system. Using ESPLOST V funds, this school will be completely revitalized to improve safety and academic achievement.
“I am very excited that we will complete phase I of this project and students will move into the new construction in December,” Reese says. “After the students move into the new part, we will completely renovate part of the existing school, making Graysville an amazing 21st century learning center for students.”
Keeping learning environments vibrant is just as important as giving students access to technology to enhance their education, she says. The district completed its 1:1 technology initiative last year when high school students throughout the county received Chromebooks.
“While we invested in new technology devices, the significance of this investment is the transformation of our classrooms and instructional methods,” Reese explains. “Our teachers have worked diligently to learn new instructional strategies to incorporate technology in the classroom and teach students to use technology to be successful in a 21st century global economy.”
To help keep students safe in their classrooms, the district’s elementary schools will gain School Resource Officers this year. The County Commission and sheriff are partnering with the school system to fund five SROs for the elementary schools to share.
Damon RainesWalker County
For students in Walker County’s public schools, new opportunities await in the 2018-2019 school year.
“We’re introducing a new program in connection with Georgia Northwestern [Technical College] called the Launch Academy,” says Walker County Schools Superintendent Damon Raines. “Juniors and seniors in our high schools will have the opportunity to go to Georgia Northwestern with a teacher from our system in their classroom in classes that involve nursing, health care, welding, automotive and a variety of trades.”
The first cohort includes about 35 students. They will meet Monday-Friday on GNTC’s campus. Fridays will include training sessions in business, industry, finance, job skills, resume building and more.
Raines says he expects it to grow from there. A second cohort with an estimated 75 students is already planned to start in the spring semester.
On the flip side, Walker County is opening its second forest kindergarten program this year. Saddle Ridge Elementary will join Gilbert Elementary in offering a standards-based education that centers around outdoor lessons. At Gilbert Elementary, second-graders hatch baby chicks; sixth-graders study erosion, water systems and trail developments; seventh-graders study habitats and dissect frogs, pigs, crawdads, cats and cows’ eyes. The school also partners with the Walker County Farm Bureau, and a local resident helps with agricultural education every week. Students produce crops, which are provided to the school’s kitchen, sold at fundraisers and sold to a local pizza restaurant.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Education named Gilbert a Green Ribbon School, a notable designation for schools that reduce environmental impact, promote health and provide effective environmental and sustainability education.