MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Cardoza, GaDOE Communications
Office, (404) 651- 7358, mcardoza@gadoe.org
Amy Park, Parent
Engagement Program Manager, Phone: (404) 463-1956, apark@doe.k12.ga.us
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June 8, 2016 – Six Georgia schools have been
selected as 2016 winners of the Georgia Family-Friendly Partnership School
Award. The winners were selected because they represent the best in customer
service for Georgia families. Each winning school has created inviting, easily
navigable environments where helpful, courteous staff members are eager to
assist students and their families. Through these efforts, the schools are
building partnerships with families to improve student achievement. Each of the
schools also provides unique, engaging, and innovative parent engagement
programs that are successfully reaching all families in the school.
“I wish to
congratulate each 2016 Family Friendly Partnership School awardee,” State
School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “The emphasis these schools have
placed on creating warm, family-friendly environments is wonderful to see. When
schools work in partnership with parents and families, students succeed.”
The 2016
winners are:
• Buford
Elementary School in Buford City
• Fort Service Learning Academy in
Muscogee County
• Hopkins Elementary
School in Gwinnett County
• Norton Elementary School in Gwinnett
County
• Peachtree
Elementary School in Gwinnett County
• Woodward Elementary in DeKalb
County
The winning
schools were chosen from a pool of nine finalists. The three other finalists
are:
• Heard Elementary School in Bibb
County
• KIPP Vision Primary
School of Atlanta Public Schools
• Sweetwater Middle School
in Gwinnett County
Each school
applied to the Georgia Department of Education’s (GaDOE) Parent Engagement
Program describing the family engagement programs in their schools. Applications were reviewed by a
Family-Friendly Partnership Review Team comprised of representatives from the
GaDOE, the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), Voices for Georgia’s
Children, and the State School Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council. Nine finalists were identified, and members
of the Review Team made surprise visits to each school, posing as parents
looking for information or assistance. The team also conducted walkthroughs of
each school and interviewed school staff, parents, students, and community
members.
Superintendent
Woods will visit all six schools in the fall and will present a plaque and a
welcome mat for their front entrance.
The
Family-Friendly Partnership School initiative is organized by GaDOE and
sponsored by the Georgia Foundation for Public Education, the Georgia
Association of Educators, and three Ritz-Carlton hotels in Georgia: the
Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta (Downtown); the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead; and the
Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee. Teams from each of the
winning schools will get the chance to learn more about providing welcoming
environments during a professional learning seminar hosted by the Ritz-Carlton
Leadership Center. The seminars are designed to help the schools increase
family engagement in order to improve the academic achievement of students.
Erwin
Schinnerl, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, said: “Through the
Ritz-Carlton Succeed Through Service program, our hotels partner with schools
to support students in gaining transferable skills no matter which career path
they take. The general managers of our Ritz-Carlton hotels in downtown Atlanta
and at Reynolds Plantation share the hope that this family-friendly schools
initiative will build upon family-school partnerships to help all students in
their academic achievement.”
Other schools
named as finalists will receive the option of specialized support from GAE to
further develop the welcoming environments in their schools.
The
Family-Friendly Partnership School Award is awarded annually to up to ten
schools that go above and beyond to make families feel welcome and work to
engage parents in their children’s education.
Schools can
begin applying for next year’s Family-Friendly Partnership School Awards in
September. Only Title I schools are eligible to apply. Applicants must not be
designated as Priority or Focus schools under the state’s Elementary and
Secondary Education Act waiver.
Click
here for more information on the Georgia Family-Friendly Partnership School
Initiative.