Glynn County Schools is one of 38 districts in Georgia which were awarded a $2.3 million grant from the Georgia Department of Education.
The money can be used through September 30, 2020, for "improving student-teacher learning, classroom literacy instruction from birth to grade 12, school climate, family literacy and community-school partnerships.
“This grant will give us the opportunity to really showcase the strong teamwork here in our school system and in the community,” said Sung Hui Lewis, assistant superintendent of preK-5 instruction. “We are community leaders and this grant will allow us to go into the homes and daycares to meet students where they are. This has been a tremendous effort by our district, and we are excited to have the pieces we need to accomplish our plan.”
Eight schools in the Glynn County School System will benefit from the grant: Altama Elementary, Glyndale Elementary, Golden Isles Elementary, Sterling Elementary, Satilla Marsh Elementary, Needwood Middle, Jane Macon Middle and Brunswick High. These schools were selected based on a feeder pattern that reflected third-grade literacy rates.
“The goal is to build in processes that are sustainable in our district that continue to work beyond the funding,” said strategy and innovation executive director Valerie Whitehead.
The district had to submit a proposal showing what it would do with the money at every stage as well as to prove it had a strong community partnership in order to be awarded the money.
Beyond establishing sustainable best practices in literacy initiatives, the Georgia DOE’s overarching mission is to support existing successes while establishing programs that close the literacy gap across the state.
“Making sure Georgia students are reading on grade level remains mission-critical, top-priority work for us and I have no doubt these districts – who submitted clear, focused, student-centered plans to improve literacy outcomes – are going to use these funds to make a tremendous difference for kids,” state school superintendent Richard Woods said in a statement.
