Officials with the Forsyth County School District and the Chamber of Commerce provided a “State of the Schools” update for the public on July 25, as the new school year begins this week.
As Forsyth County prepares for school to start up on Aug. 3, officials met to assess the state of the school system. Notably, Forsyth County School District boasts the highest college and career-ready performance index score, the highest graduation rate, the highest ACT scores and the highest financial efficiency rating in the metro Atlanta area, being the fifth largest district in the state.
Forsyth County Schools will celebrate 150 years of service in 2024. The address provided to the public, both in-person and online, was held at New Hope Elementary School, which opened its doors recently for the 2022-2023 school year.
Forsyth County Schools is deemed the largest employer in the county, having hired over 400 new positions heading into this upcoming school year, according to Associate Superintendent Derrick Hershey. Additionally, the county has hired another 165 non-certified positions and trained over 100 substitute teachers.
As of last week, Forsyth County Schools employs a total of 3,992 certified teachers, 2,067 classified staff members and over 2,130 active substitute teachers.
Several teachers spoke at the State of the Schools presentation, including Morgan O’Leary, a first-grade teacher at New Hope Elementary.
“I've tried to build a classroom community that focuses on belonging, a safe spot where everybody who enters whether it's a child or an adult, feels welcomed and feels like they have a place to belong,” O’Leary said. “And for me, that really starts the minute that my kids walk through the door in the morning, I try to meet them at the door and greet them by name.”
Richard Toomey, the head custodian at Kelly Mill Elementary and recipient of the national 2023 Custodian of the Year award, also provided comments on how his staff improves the lives of Forsyth County students.
“Our support for students is twofold because we can assure a clean and healthy environment for students and staff members,” Toomey said. “But also from a safety standpoint, our role is vital in making sure the building is secure to ensure their physical safety as well. As a staff member, these are the responsibilities that I'm proud to serve rolling. But as a parent, it is of the utmost importance to me that these expectations are met, so that we can foster the best environment conducive to learning.”
The final in a trio of areas represented at the presentation was Health Services Facilitator and Nurse Heidi Avila.
“Our clinic average is about 50 to 70 clinic visits a day at each of our schools,” Avila said. “Our school nurses are busy if you visit any of our schools and you pop your head into a school clinic on any given day, our clinics are busy. We perform special procedures, we have tube feedings and catheters, we have students on oxygen and we have those special needs. But we also care for students with chronic health conditions. So we take care of students with type one diabetes, severe asthma, severe allergies and seizure disorders.”
In the 2022-2023 school year alone, Forsyth County school nurses had to call emergency services 196 times. Avila put that statistic into perspective, given that they care for over 54,000 students at 42 school locations.
The main theme threaded through the presentation was a need and desire to foster solid relationships; both with the students walking the halls of Forsyth County schools, as well as with parents and staff.
“As we move into this new school year, we are dedicated to creating that safe, connected and thriving community for all and we need all of you, our entire community, to support our students and our staff,” Superintendent Jeff Bearden said. “We must all work together.”
As staff and students head into the 2023-2024 school year, FCS has reaffirmed its commitment to serving its students, who hail from 129 different countries and collectively speak 68 different languages.
