The first day of school is a few weeks away for most students, but many teachers have already said goodbye to summer. That’s certainly the case in Gwinnett County.
Gwinnett County Public Schools kicked off its new teacher orientation this week with a welcome from district leadership, an information session on school culture, curriculum seminars, and an opportunity for incoming educators to pair with mentors at their new schools.
“Our philosophy is to onboard new teachers so that they become a part of our school community as quickly and effectively as they can,” said Leilani Esmond, director of the staff development department. “We continue that support to retain and recruit good teachers and other staff.”
The 1,500-plus new hires gathered Monday at the Infinite Energy Center for a half-day of district-level events. Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks joined members of the Gwinnett County Board of Education in welcoming them, and Heidi Campbell, the 2019 GCPS Teacher of the Year, gave a talk about her years of teaching.
The keynote speaker was author John Antonetti, who works with schools and districts throughout North America on student engagement, writing, rigor and relevance, and high-yield best practices.
“This is geared toward showing teachers new to Gwinnett that there are a lot of resources for their success, which leads to student success,” said Bonnie Brush, executive director of curriculum.
Esmond agreed.
“This isn’t a sink-or-swim organization,” she said. “We don’t want anyone to feel that they are doing this on their own.”
Besides a crash course on processes, teachers spent Wednesday at Peachtree Ridge High School learning about Gwinnett’s Academic Knowledge and Skills curriculum, as well as about resources to support them in the classroom.
Luther Harris has already started teaching at North Gwinnett High School.
As the new band director, he has already met many students, parents, administrators and other teachers. “Band camp is well underway,” he said. “And although there are a lot of things that are the same, each school has a different vibe and a different way of doing things.”
He’s excited to see his students perform on and off the field. “I’m not here just to teach these students to be good musicians,” he said. “I’m here to teach them how to be good people, good citizens of the world.”
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The orientation concludes with new teachers meeting at their local schools and meeting fellow educators. Gwinnett teachers work in teams, have mentors who assist and support them in their work, and take part in ongoing staff development activities.
Esmond said, “The system’s goal is that every teacher will have high-quality staff development as part of his or her daily work, and use this learning to improve student learning.”
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