Vision Barrow County School System: Boldly Committed to Student Success Mission Ensuring an education that leads each student to become a high achieving and responsible citizen

Barrow County Schools Nearly 13,000 Students 8 Elementary Schools 4 Middle Schools 3 High Schools 1 Alternative Education Program

Apalachee Cluster

Winder-Barrow Cluster

Rapid Growth For the years 2001 to 2010 the overall population of Barrow County increased by 50%, the 6 th fastest growth rate of all Georgia Counties during the same period.

Changing Demographics

Who Our Students Are 8% of Barrow Students are English Learners and 11% are Students with Disabilities

Charter System On April 13 th, 2011 Barrow County became a Charter District Governance teams consisting of educators, parents, & stakeholders at the School, Cluster, and District Levels have broad decision making authority

Charter Structure

Areas of Focus under Barrow’s Charter Written & Oral Communication Skills Problem Solving Skills Critical Thinking Skills 21 st Century Literacy Skills Technology Skills

Achievement & Student Outcomes

CRCT 2011: Grades 3-8 Combined Pass Rate

CRCT 2011 Continued Percentage of GA Systems Barrow Outperformed on CRCT 2011 ReadingE/LAMathScienceSoc. Studies 64%59%61%68%59%

High School EOCT Results 2011

EOCT 2011 Continued Percentage of GA Systems Barrow Outperformed on EOCT LitAm LitMath 1Math 2Phy. Sci.BiologyU.S. Hist.Econ 40%71%37% 34%60%69%73%

2011 Writing Pass Rates

Writing Assessments On the combined pass rate for the 5 th, 8 th, and 11 th Grade Writing Tests in 2011 Barrow County had the 12 th highest total pass rate in the entire state

Misc. Achievement Enrollment in High School AP courses has doubled over the past two years Percent of Barrow students scoring 3 or higher on AP exams (67%) was significantly higher than state average (55%)

Challenges

Graduation Rate

SPED Students & Graduation WBHS was identified in 2012 by DOE as a “Focus” school due to the gap between SPED Grad Rate and White Grad Rate AHS had a similar gap but just missed the designation

Special Education Continued

Issues with Math at High School

Growth & Budget

Regional Spending per Student Hall Jackson Banks Madison Oglethorpe Clarke Oconee Morgan Walton Gwinnett Barrow

Initiatives and Innovative Approaches

Dropout Prevention Approaches Dropout “Risk-Ratios” from Grades 4 to 12 Matching up of adult mentors with at-risk students Dropout reaction flowchart Focus on “mastery” in grading Use of e2020 and other online courses for Credit Recovery & Course Extension

Unique Pathways for Students CCPA PLC Eventual Career Academy Collaboration with adult education

Thematic Focus on Culture of Graduation New Logo & Vision StatementAll Students Focus on Graduation PK to 12

Focus on Math High School math teachers collaborating and creating shared formative assessments & benchmarks Focus on changing instruction in response to data and student performance Hired Math Integration Specialist through the D2D grant

Early Returns on Math

Focus on Special Education System wide emphasis on differentiation of instruction at all levels DOE led training on least restrictive environment throughout Focus on increasing inclusion at the high school level through expanding co-taught academic courses and de-emphasizing resource classes

F.A.D. Acronym for Feedback, Assessment, and Differentiation High Impact practices that were targeted collaboratively by leadership teams throughout the county in the summer of 2010 Measured throughout the year by use of external and internal walkthroughs

Communication with Stakeholders and Leaders eBoard Parent Academy Language services and outreach Video Conferencing Technology Community Days

Digital School Districts Survey Barrow was recently named #1 District in the nation in the “large district” category in use of technology to “govern the district, communicate with students, parents and the community and to improve district operations”

Direct 2 Discovery 1.7 million dollar grant in conjunction with Georgia Tech Leverages Internet 2 technology to allow students in Math and Science courses to collaborate and communicate in real time with research scientists Aligned to GPS standards and geared towards increasing learning authenticity & student engagement

Challenging Expectations

The True Foundation of Barrow County Schools Vision & Purpose Commitment to Continuous Improvement Stakeholder Communication & Relationships Resource & Support Systems Documenting & Using Results Teaching & Learning Governance & Leadership