Findings

Governance Team

The Henry County Board of Education embraces a Unified Governance model designed to promote cohesiveness and efficacy in realizing the district’s Vision and Mission. The board’s success in adopting this approach factored significantly in its selection as 2023 Governance Team of the Year in the Large System category by the Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA).

Since my appointment, we have continued to promote Unified Governance through Whole Board Training sessions, which focused on orienting new governance team members, communication, and embracing the community in which we live and work.

The Governance Team continues to intentionally build on the practices that led to its prestigious GSBA recognition. Two additional Whole Board Trainings are scheduled for the first half of 2025 to support and inform the upcoming development of the district’s next five-year Strategic Plan. I look forward to collaborating with our Board of Education as we continue our “Pursuit of Exceptional!”

Organizational Alignment and Operations of Executive Cabinet and Cabinet

Building on the strong foundation of systems and structures, prioritizing student achievement, and understanding the interconnectedness between all entities and actions across the district will enable us to take next steps toward meeting our goals and realizing our Vision.

The question we must ask ourselves every day is, “How is my work today improving learning and achievement for all students?” Such a focus requires the district to hone in on the Compass set forth by the board within the Community-Inspired Strategic Plan and ensure every department is moving in the same direction grounded in our Core Beliefs, Strategic Actions, Core Policies, and Priority Outcomes.

Several key events in the 90-day plan contributed to the organizational alignment of our leadership team. Culture and Climate Visits with Governance Team, Executive Cabinet, and Cabinet members allowed us to witness success stories as well as opportunities for improvement within our schools. Through the Cabinet team’s study of Patrick Lencioni’s “The 6 Types of Working Genius,” we focused on improving organizational collaboration by employing the Working Genius framework to assign projects and teams based on individual strengths and talents. Following the successful execution of our first P.O.W.E.R. (Priority Outcomes Wielding Exceptional Results) Forum in November, the Governance Team and school leaders worked as a cohesive unit to listen, learn, problem-solve, and celebrate the work of our students, teachers, leaders, and staff through the lens of student performance data.

Cross-department collaboration with student learning and achievement at the forefront is crucial as we move forward. While we will be sustaining many systems already in place, evaluating them from the perspective of putting student learning and achievement first will enhance these existing systems. To shift this perspective organizationally will require some realignment within our current structure, including repositioning personnel and establishing a role to ensure collaboration across departments to meet the goals set by the board and the Community-Inspired Strategic Plan.

Student Learning and Achievement

How effectively and efficiently can we implement the continuous improvement model to positively impact student learning, educator development, and ultimately student achievement? With a goal to accelerate learning for students, we must accelerate learning for all, especially those who directly impact students. This requires leveraging the most accurate and relevant student and school data, along with research-based practices, to inform our next steps for professional learning, recruitment, and retention of highly qualified staff, as well as providing tools and resources necessary to accelerate learning and ultimately student achievement.

Data, both quantitative and qualitative, is a key tool to tell us the story of our students and what they need to access the opportunity of education. This story connects us to why they are performing how we expect, why they are not performing as we expect, and what we may need to do differently. This is valuable for identifying and highlighting student and district trends, enabling HCS to enhance learning opportunities and access for every child. 

Our focus will be to use this information in a proactive manner as a tool that helps us to provide teachers, leaders, and staff the information and resources they need for every student to succeed. The greatest resource we can invest in our employees is professional development that is aligned to their needs and the needs of the students they instruct.

Support Structures for Health and Wellness

The board’s investment in Mental Health and Wellness Facilitators in every school, has enabled the district to better meet students' emotional and mental health needs and has also been a hidden gem for our employees, who have come to find great value in this role embedded in each of our schools. As a testament to that value, the district’s reigning ESPY (Educational Support Person of the Year), Marga Kirschner, is a Mental Health and Wellness Facilitator who was recently named one of two recipients of the statewide RISE (Recognizing Inspirational School Employees) Award.

Ensuring the safety and security of every HCS student also remains a top priority for the board. Employing a School Resource Officer (SRO) for every middle and high school was among several recent board initiatives, with the total complement of SROs increasing to 39 this school year, providing dedicated coverage for all secondary schools as well as rotating coverage districtwide.

With pertinent discussions taking place in this year’s Georgia legislative session regarding school safety and security, I believe Henry County Schools may rise as an innovator and model in the area of student health, wellness, safety and security. We will continue to monitor best practices within and outside of our district to ensure a safe and welcoming learning and working environment for all students and staff.

Stakeholder Engagement

In embracing opportunities to cultivate community relationships, I attended eight of the district’s fall Community Cluster Conversations in person, as well as one virtually.  I was also proud to witness student and teacher excellence through various events and activities, such as:

• Henry County Board of Commissioners Legislative Breakfast
• Henry County Chamber of Commerce “Lunch with a Leader”
• Rotary Club of Henry County
• Henry County NAACP Martin Luther King Jr./Black History Month Parade
• HCS Legislative Breakfast
• Henry County STAR Student Luncheon
• HCS Community Leadership Academy
• Inaugural HCS Robotics Competition
• HCS District Math Competition
• HCS District Marching Band Exhibition
• HCS Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration
• HCS Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory
• HCS Superintendent’s Student Advisory
• HCS Superintendent’s Parent Advisory
• Numerous athletic events

Operational Culture

The board’s commitment to advancing a high-performing operational culture to drive student achievement, employee productivity, and an overall culture of excellence is evident. Initiatives aimed at driving operational success include expanding and enhancing learning and working environments to ensure opportunities and access for every student.

Birch Creek Elementary School opened its doors in the fall, welcoming more than 700 students, once again reflecting the visionary board’s responsive governance in one of the fastest-growing counties in Georgia. Recent and ongoing capital projects also include a new administration facility, new westside transportation hub, additions to two middle schools, site preparation for a state-of-the-art STEM high school, athletic facility renovations at two middle schools, and the installation of electronic message boards at all schools and HVAC in all elementary school gymnasiums.

Additionally, responding effectively to the needs of a growing school district also relies on efficient internal processes that provide seamless interaction between all the district’s divisions and systems. The district’s Finance, Human Resources, and Information Services divisions implemented AccessHCS in late 2024/early 2025 to replace outdated systems and optimize processes related to finance, procurement, business document management, and human resources.