On October 5th, the Georgia Charter System Foundation hosted its Annual Awards Luncheon in Athens, highlighting the numerous achievements of Georgia Charter Systems. Calhoun City Schools received the prestigious Charter System of the Year Award and was awarded $10,000 by the Foundation to further build upon their academic efforts.
Calhoun Middle School’s Governance Team was also recognized as the Governance Team of the Year and is the recipient of a $5,000 award.
This is the second time Calhoun City schools has been named Charter System of the Year, previously being recognized in 2016.
The Charter System of the Year Award recognizes a system that has demonstrated excellence in leadership, governance, partnerships and achievement. Calhoun City Schools plays an instrumental role in the charter system community by mentoring other charter systems while encouraging their own teachers, parents, and community members to actively participate in school level governance. They promote meaningful partnerships with business, civic organizations, and institutions of higher education and have improved academic achievement and student success.
School officials say Calhoun City Schools uses the flexibility of its charter status to redefine the classroom where space and time constraints no longer inhibit students’ learning environments. Innovations such as the transition to Media College and Career Centers in all of the school libraries, provide tools and resources to develop creativity, innovation and problem solving. This initiative fuses literacy, STEM and makerspace mindsets into one dynamic hub for learning in all grades P-12.
The new classroom continues to develop through the use of innovative scheduling, flexible calendars, and virtual learning. Using the community as a classroom model, students are encouraged to step outside and engage in meaningful, rigorous education and community leadership that focuses on the concept of lifelong learning while preparing students for college and careers.
Such extended classroom settings allow students to practice and apply learned skills in real world environments and situations. Calhoun City Schools is proud to have a 100% graduation rate.
During the conference, Dr. Tricia Waters and Amanda Swift presented information about the system’s partnership with the University of West Georgia to provide innovation labs in all media centers. Dr. Brandi Hayes, Director of College and Career Programs and Garrett Nudd also served on a panel and roundtable discussion, “The Future is Now: Georgia’s Economy and Addressing Critical Needs of the Healthcare Industry.” They discussed the challenges to Georgia’s healthcare industry, providing perspectives on collaborative partnerships to serve the workforce needs of Georgia’s healthcare industry.
Monica Kaufman Pearson, former anchor of the daily evening news for WSB TV served as the master of ceremonies at the Awards luncheon with state representative Chris Erwin offering the keynote address.
On hand to accept the awards were Superintendent Dr. Michele Taylor, Board of Education Vice Chair Andy Baxter and Board Member Eddie Reeves, as well as School Governance Team Co-Chairs Dr. Allison Eubanks, Principal of Calhoun Middle School and Garrett Nudd, community leader from AdventHealth Gordon. System leadership team members were also in attendance and included Susan Bennett, Cari Craig, Dr. Peter Coombe, Dr. Jaime Garrett, Dr. Brandi Hayes, Misty Lewis, Casey Parker, Kayla Ralston, Mana Smith, Hope Stephenson, Amanda Swift, and Dr. Tricia Waters
Of Georgia’s 180 school systems, 48 have been approved as Charter Systems by the State Board of Education. Georgia Charter Systems have proven effective in addressing the specific and unique needs of individual school systems, embarking on new relationships between each board of education and their communities.
For more information on the Georgia Charter Systems Foundation, please visit: http://www.charter-system.org/.
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