GCPS CONNECTED

In this episode of Connected, we celebrate this year's Teacher of the Year semifinalists, GCPS graduation rates, Arcado ES and GCPS Foundation winning major grants to support teaching and learning, and Bottle Rockets at Meadowcreek ES! Segmento para la Participación Familiar en español avance al minuto: 2:21.

The Blueprint in Action focus for the months of August, September, and October is College and Career Readiness. During these months we will be spotlighting how we are preparing students for the college and career of their choice, specifically highlighting the efforts in GCPS to meet these objectives in our strategic plan. Learn more about...

• JonesDash Delivering Skills for Future Success (video)

• College and Career Readiness: Fine Arts Student Organizations

• Get Ready for College

• North Metro Academy of Performing Arts (video)

• GSMST student earns 3M Award

• GCPS students named to 2024-25 Teen Team

• Meadowcreek student honored by Falcons

• Archer students win National FFA Awards

The Gwinnett County Public Library and Gwinnett County Public Schools joined together to form a partnership which expands the amount of digital and print resources available to GCPS students. This includes access to all 15 library branches and all digital resources. Another advantage is that Branch Out accounts do not incur late fees. For access to the student account, go to www.gwinnettpl.org and log in using the student ID and birthdate (MMYY).

Beanstack makes it easy for kids to track everything they read, whether it’s a book, e-book, or audiobook to meet reading goals with new reading challenges and virtual badges. Students access their account at beanstack.com/gwinnett using their student number as the username and their 4-digit birthday (MMDD) as the password.

Students can complete challenges both at their school and through the Gwinnett County Public Library Beanstack accounts. To link the two accounts, while signed into your school Beanstack account, click the “Link Profile” button at the top of the homepage or in the account gear. Choose Gwinnett County Public Library from the drop-down menu. This will allow students to participate in challenges created at their local school and challenges created through the public library.

The purpose of the FY2026 Budget Development Survey is to inform decisions around funding priorities in School Year 2025-26. Understanding our community’s feedback on the district’s general budget plays an important role in positioning the district optimally for success.

Thank you in advance for responding to the FY2026 Budget Development Survey by Thursday, October 31. Learn more and find a link to respond here: https://bit.ly/gcps_BDS25-26

GCPS students, staff, and community members are invited to participate in two opportunities through October 31:

• Review and provide input on proposed instructional resources for select grades and courses in Career & Technical Education (CTAE).
• Review and provide input on proposed instructional resources for select grades in Sex Education.
  

You should have received the Fall Essentials in your mailbox at home or in your elementary school student's folder, containing information that celebrates significant academic achievements of the Class of 2024, an update about Our Blueprint in Action's four focus areas, and continued E-SPLOST improvements in our schools. Misplaced it? No worries, you can read all the same stories and updates online!

During the board meeting on October 17, 2024, the Gwinnett County Board of Education approved the appointment of new principals at Osborne, Snellville, and Sweetwater Middle Schools.

Following the recent school shooting at Apalachee High School, there was a strong call from the community for additional steps to protect students and staff in our schools. In response, we began exploring further protective measures beyond our ongoing safety measures and the pilot programs already in place for this school year. This led to the distribution of a three-question poll to all GCPS students, families, and staff. Learn more about the clear backpack poll and the results.

A Community Group is a public self-enrollment group. Students, families, and staff, as well as users from outside our district are able to join the group from our district's Join Community Groups page. Local schools may also choose to create school community groups. Schools that do participate will have a "Join Community Groups" page linked from the school website.

GCPS has been awarded two federal grants totaling nearly $19 million over the next five years to bolster mental health supports. The announcement was made during U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona’s visit to Five Forks Middle School. Cardona joined U.S. Representative Lucy McBath for a roundtable discussion with students, teachers, and school counselors focused on the mental health supports GCPS provides to students.

The 2024 Book Mobile 5K and Fun Run is a family-friendly event taking place on Saturday, November 2. Since 2017, the program has provided more than 200,000 new books to Gwinnett children through 730 school and community visits. Register at bookmobile5k.com and join us at the ISC at 8 a.m.

The GCPS Community-Based Mentoring Program held its 13th annual golf tournament on October 14 at Chateau Elan. “This is our program’s annual fundraising event and supports our efforts to continue our mission of building community, connection, and belonging one relationship at a time,” says James Rayford, director of Community-Based Mentoring. Learn more about the event and its impact.

• Board meeting and work session (October 17)
  
• Connected (October 10)
• GCPS Links (October 17)
  
• Coffee with Calvin (October 3)
  

• News Releases
  
• Student Calendars
  
• And much more at www.gcpsk12.org!
  

• The next regular Board meeting is November 21. (Online, find links to sign up for the public comment sections of the meeting.)