Greetings GCSS Team,

Thank you all for your contributions that have made 2022 a successful year! Mark Twain said "the secret of getting ahead is getting started" and we created a solid start to achieving our goals for this school year. This is a time for gratitude as we count our many blessings over the past year. As I reflect on all that I am grateful for this year, our GCSS family is top of mind.

I am inspired by all of you, our outstanding staff who work incredibly hard every day for the success of our students; I am grateful for the ongoing support of our parents, families, and community partners to ensure student achievement; and I am thankful for every GCSS student for their resilience and dedication to growth. Student success is a team effort, and we each play a critical role in ensuring the district mission and vision is realized for every student to create a thriving future for themselves and their community.

I wish you and your family a restful and safe holiday break, and a very Happy New Year!

Students from Greene County Primary School and CBJ Preschool enjoyed a magical Winter Wonderland at Greene County High School on Dec. 8th! Students decorated ornaments and gift bags, enjoyed face and hand painting in the art lab, took photos with Santa in the audio/visual technology lab, decorated Christmas cookies in the culinary lab, colored Christmas coloring sheets in the school cafe, wrote letters to Santa in the library, and watched The Polar Express! Thank you to all of our students in the Greene College & Career Academy and their teachers for creating such a wonderful holiday experience for the younger students. Watch the video below, produced by GCCA Audio Visual Technology & Film pathway students, to view magical moments and smiles from Winter Wonderland, and click here to view more photos.

In conjunction with the Georgia State Technology Competition, the Greene County School System held a district-wide Student Technology Competition for all students in Grade 3-12. The students completed a technology project in one of 14 categories and competed against projects in their grade classification. Students could create a project on their own or they could partner with one other student. We had 38 projects submitted and 58 participants in grades 5-9 submit a project for judging. On December 2, each project was scored and the winners were announced in the buildings on Wednesday, December 7.

Winning projects included stop-motion animation, 3-D design, composition of original music using online programs, graphic design, creation of an interactive internet game, and more! Our winning projects are invited to the Regional Student Technology Competition on January 21 in Barrow County to compete against winners form other schools in our region. If a project wins at Regional, they will be invited to the State Competition in March at Kennesaw State University.

We would like to thank all of the students for participating and the teachers that embraced this opportunity for their students to use our technology to create and learn something new about technology. We look forward to taking our large group of winners to Barrow County for the Regional competition. A special thanks to our media specialists, instructional coaches, and district office staff for judging the projects.

We had a great turnout for Parent University at GCHS on Saturday, Dec. 3rd. Parent University is designed to equip parents with tools & knowledge to help their children succeed in school. Attendees heard an inspiring keynote message from Dr. Stephen Peters (retired superintendent and author of One: A Process for Success for Every One and Everyone) as well as breakout sessions on digital citizenship, student behavior and academic success, literacy and Title III for English learners, a health and wellness session from our DPH partners, and more. Congratulations to our door prize winners who took home gift cards and other prizes! The next Parent University session will be on February 11, 2023.