Newspaper Page Text
Page 2B
^Reporter
July 27, 2022
Message from the Superintendent
MC Schools spent summer preparing for new year
T he Monroe
County School
System is looking
forward to the
start of classes on Monday,
Aug. 1. Everyone is really
excited about the
upcoming 2022-
23 school year!
As we plan and
prepare for this
school term, it is
our sincere hope
that this will be a
safe and success
ful year for the
students, staff,
parents, and
community members in
our school district.
As a school district, our
vision is to develop stu
dents with the knowledge
and skills to be successful
before and after graduation.
Our mission for students
and staff is to learn, grow,
and succeed each day. We
also encourage the cre
ation of relationships with
students and parents that
foster positive and nurtur
ing learning environments
in our schools. In this way,
our school system will
continue to be recognized
for developing students
who will be knowledgeable
citizens in society who can
follow their dreams to do
and be anything they want
to be.
What has been going on
over the summer? What’s
new for this
school year?
• Safety
upgrades con
tinue through
out the school
system.
Additional
cameras have
been added
throughout
the system
to help monitor safety
concerns. Each school has
enhanced safety protocols
through the improvement
of school safety improve
ment plans and through
active consultation with
local and state safety and
law enforcement officials.
Continued safety enhance
ments will be added at all
locations based on needs
identified through school
safety improvement plans.
All schools have front
lobbies and vestibules that
require visitor check in
before entering. Classroom
doors remain locked at all
times to add an extra layer
of protection for staff and
students. Through our
collaboration and partner
ship with Monroe County
Sheriffs Office, an addi
tional School Resource Of
ficer has been added to our
system to increase school
security.
• As we continue our
focus on improving literacy
across the district, espe
cially in our elementary
grades, our elementary
schools will continue to im
plement the research-based
Sonday System phonics
program for all students
in grades PK-3 as well as
the Heggerty phonemic
awareness program for all
students in grades PK-2.
• Technology updates
include new Surface Pro
computers for teachers
and admin staff, 1,200 new
Chromebooks for students,
and 11 additional ViewS
onic panels. Students and
staff will notice additional
integrations with Google
and Clever to make sign
in and/or rostering easier
for applications such as
Frontline, Google Class
room, Illuminate, Infinite
Campus, and Renaissance.
Teachers will be excited
to use new features allow
ing scores to be passed
from Illuminate or Google
Classroom to their Infinite
Campus gradebooks. Later
this school year, staff and
secondary students will be
able to set their own pass
words through a new tool
called Rapid Identity.
• We launched a new app
this summer for parents
and staff. It’s an effort to
better-communicate with
the community about all
the great things happening
at our schools. Find the
daily lunch menu, see our
public events calendar and
view our staff directory
with the touch of a button.
Download it today in the
App or Google Play stores.
• In addition to our new
app, we launched new
websites for the district and
all of our schools to better
serve our stakeholders. The
clean layout and responsive
design will make it easier
for our parents to access
the information they need
on any device.
• Every summer, a
thorough and deep clean
ing occurs in each school.
Monroe County Schools
partners with Ecovasive, an
environmentally safe disin
fectant company, to apply
a layer of protection and
disinfection in our class
rooms, cafeterias, hallways,
buses, and all other parts of
the school.
• At MPHS, we removed
all lockers, and painted and
repaired the floors after
locker removal. Design
plans are in progress for
new restrooms at the
baseball field, as well as an
expansion of the existing
batting cages. The tennis
courts are undergoing a
total renovation and the
removal of fencing is in
progress. Construction of a
new concession stand and
restrooms is well underway
at the football field.
• At the Monroe County
Achievement Center, our
JROTC students built and
installed a new obstacle
course for JROTC. We’re
also in the process of com
pleting work on the base
ball field to add another
location for practice.
• New RTUs will be
installed at Monroe County
Middle School this school
year. Integrated systems are
already being installed for a
new HVAC system.
• All visitor entrances
at each school are in the
process of being pressure
washed. All schools and
system facilities have been
inspected by the Monroe
County Fire Department.
Our students achieved
at historic levels for our
school system last year,
and we are excited about
the opportunities available
for our children in 2022-
23. We continue to offer a
robust slate of offerings for
our students in academics,
fine arts, and athletics. It is
going to be another great
year! If you have any ques
tions or concerns about
the upcoming school year,
please feel free to contact
your child's school or
Monroe County Board of
Education. Thank you for
allowing our schools the
opportunity to work with
you and your child this
year.
Go Knights! Go Tigers!
Go Bears! But most of all....
Go Bulldogs!
Dr Mike Hickman is the
Superintendent of Monroe
County schools.
Welcoming new teachers
There will be a lot of new faces at
Monroe County Schools when the
doors open for the 2022-23 school year
on Monday, Aug. 1, and many of them
will be new school system employees.
Monroe County Schools welcomed
79 new employees, 57 teachers and 22
paraprofessionals, to its annual Teacher
Induction Program (TIP) July 18-20,
which was held at the Monroe County
Fine Arts Center.
Last year Monroe County Schools had
a total of 57 teachers and support staff
at its TIP sessions and the year before it
was only 38. There were 53 new teach
ers and paraprofessionals at TIP before
school started on Friday, Aug. 2,2019.
TIP included the traditional school
bus ride around the county for new
teachers to learn where their students
live and how far some of them travel
before arriving in their classes each
morning. Retired T.G. Scott Principal
Dr. Dick Bazemore returned to his long
time role of providing some history and
information about Monroe County on
the ride.
The new personnel were invited to
take this space to introduce themselves
to the community that supports them.
They were asked to tell you a little about
themselves, who they are, why they
want to teach in Monroe County and
what is important to them outside of
their jobs.
Not everyone took advantage of the
invitation, but we appreciate and wel
come those who took a little time out of
their busy schedules to respond. Thank
you to Kari Buckindail, who facilitates
school communications, and all of the
school principals who helped identify
the faces in the pictures and put the
information together to share with you.
Please tell them how glad you are that
they are here.
Diane Glidewell
T.G. Scott Elementary School
Maria Allen will be a Pre-K
paraprofessional. She brings the
experience of being a lead teacher
in the 2-year-old room at a
learning center. She wants to be a
part of Monroe County Schools
because she feels they benefit
children the most. Something
special she brings to her class
room is happiness, creativity and
support. Outside of work she en
joys time with her three children,
traveling, hiking, camping and
whatever they can do together.
Her message to the community
is, “I’m so excited to have the op
portunity to learn and grow with
you children!”
Maggie Easterly will be a
Pre-K lead teacher. She has taught
middle grades English language
arts, 3rd grade, 4th grade English
Language Arts & social studies,
4th & 5th grades intervention,
high school online Spanish and
2nd grade English language
arts/science. She taught in
Troup County, Hall County and
Thomasville City schools. She
is attracted to Monroe County
Schools’ reputation of being
high achieving, well organized
and friendly. Something special
she brings to her classroom is a
diversity of teaching experience.
Outside of work, her family is
important to her. Her message
to the community is that she is
excited to begin a new adventure
and to cheer on the Mary Persons
Football Team and her coach.
Kristie Holland will teach
2nd grade. She was a special edu
cation paraprofessional at T.G.
Scott last year and before that
was a daycare teacher at Forsyth
United Methodist Church. She
is attracted to Monroe County
Schools because the administra
tion, teachers,
support staff
and community
want the best
for students and
are all support
ive and caring,
encouraging
students to
exceed. Some
thing special
she brings to
her classroom is
making learning
fun with engag
ing, hands-on
activities. When
not at work, her
priority is her
husband and
two children.
They enjoy hik
ing and swim
ming together.
Her message
for the commu
nity is that she
is blessed and
is ready for the
year to begin.
Reese
Pictured, left to right, are, Back row-Iauren Stett, Kristie Holland, Amanda Bennett, Carol Underwood, Andrew Ashton, Anna
Kinnas Asia Buckner, Rianna Wade, Principal Chad Sanders; Middle row-Margaret Easterly, Miranda McKenzie, Hannah
Blessett, Kayla Gray, Kasey Stuursma, Maria Allen; Front row-Assistant Principal Tamarkis Taylor, Rachel Boone, London Ray,
Assistant Principal Ashley Tarver.
Holton will
teach Pre-K. She
is a first year
teacher. She at
tended Monroe
County Schools
Pre-K through 12th grade and is
returning in a full circle moment.
Something special she brings to
her classroom is a love for creat
ing fun and engaging activities;
she has a lot planned for her class
this year. Outside of work she
enjoys playing with her miniature
golden doodle, Dolly, and enjoys
reading, especially at the beach.
She says she is excited about
returning to Monroe County
Schools as a teacher and can’t
wait to get to know everyone.
Anna Kinnas will teach 3rd
grade reading and social stud
ies. She taught 1st grade for four
years in Houston County. She
graduated from Mary Persons
and she and her husband are
now building a house in Monroe
County. Something special she
brings to her classroom is the
effort to build great relationships
with her students and their fami
lies. Outside of work, her family
is important to her. Her message
to the community is that she is
excited to be back home.
Miranda Mckenzie will
be a kindergarten paraprofes
sional. She worked in a private
Christian school for several
years as a Pre-K teacher. She was
attracted to Monroe County’s
support to help children grow
and learn. Something special
she brings to her classroom is
her experience and the ability to
be flexible. Outside of work her
family is important to her. She
says she wants the community to
know that she will help children
learn and feel loved.
Amanda Parks will be an
ILC paraprofessional. Her profes
sional experience is in the auto
motive industry. She is attracted
to working at Monroe County
Schools to be part of a top-ranked
See T.G. Scott Page 3B