Noun

the quality of being outstanding or extremely good.

Excellence is not optional. To achieve the GCPS mission and vision, excellence is the standard. This strategic priority continues a long-standing ethos in the district to be a world-class organization in service to students and families. The Strategic Direction for 2020-2030 articulated the charge well:

Gwinnett County Public Schools is committed to the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of the organization. Achieving that goal requires that the district have cohesive leadership, exemplary operations, effective means of communicating with and engaging stakeholders, and a culture that embraces continuous improvement and innovation.

To sustain excellence in GCPS, we will set and measure the following goals.

Goal 4.A—Preferred education destination.

Be the first choice of students and families for excellent schools and the employer of choice for educators and staff to fulfill their careers.

Objectives

• Cultivate school quality, climate, and culture that is student-centered and committed to the success of each and every child.
  • Ensure universal access to high-quality curriculum and instructional materials aligned to the GCPS Academic Knowledge and Skills (AKS).
  • Sustain teaching quality and reduce variability between schools and classrooms.
• Promote a well-rounded education that includes a wide variety of academic, arts, and athletic programs across the K-12 continuum, including co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.
• Create a world-class customer service culture (i.e., “the Disney experience”) to provide consistency and increased responsiveness across school campuses and departments for students and families as well as educators and staff. 
  • Evaluate the customer service experience in GCPS, both internally and externally, to identify strengths and opportunities.
  • Collaboratively develop customer service standards and train all front-line staff and new employees to create GCPS ambassadors.
• Anticipate the future skills needed for success after graduation and design innovative responses to prepare students for that future state, never stagnating.
• Value employees at all levels and in every facet of the organization, as evidenced by elevating their voices in decision-making, recognizing their work, celebrating their success, prioritizing work-life balance, and maintaining competitive compensation and benefits packages.

	SY2022	SY2023	SY2024	SY2025	SY2026	SY2027
Indicator	Baseline	Target	Target	Target	Target	Target
County Resident Enrollment Rate	93.6%	90.0%	90.0%	90.0%	90.0%	90.0%
Employee Retention	89.1%	89.2%	89.4%	89.6%	89.8%	90.0%
Family Satisfaction – Family Survey	84.4%	84.9%	85.7%	86.7%	87.9%	90.0%
Student Satisfaction – Student Survey	49.9%	54.9%	59.9%	64.9%	69.9%	75.0%
Student Achievement	48.2%	49.2%	51.2%	54.7%	59.2%	65.0%
4-year graduation rate	83.2%	83.5%	84.0%	85.0%	87.0%	90.0%

 

Goal 4.B—Postsecondary and workforce readiness.

Prepare each and every student for post-secondary and workforce readiness so that they have multiple pathways to success based on their demonstrated knowledge, skills, abilities, and interests.

Objectives

• Intentionally incorporate opportunities for students to develop competencies defined by the Portrait of a Graduate.
  • Define student behaviors expected at the end of grades 5, 8, and at graduation that exemplify the competencies and are evidence that students possess these skills.
  • Integrate opportunities to demonstrate and develop these competencies through student tasks aligned to the AKS and through co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.
  • Align the competencies with the SEL curriculum and standards to ensure these skills are part of the K-12 learning experience for all students.
• Develop a long-term plan for managing career academies and CTE pathways that reflect the future of work and lead to high-demand industry certifications or credits for post-secondary programs.
• Promote the value of multiple pathways to success and support students in identifying their strengths and interests to choose the best path for them.
• Create and expand opportunities for students to co-author their learning based on their individual interests and aspirations through curricular and course offerings such as independent study, work-based learning, capstone projects, service learning, etc.

Key Performance Indicators for the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Goal

	SY2022	SY2023	SY2024	SY2025	SY2026	SY2027
Indicator	Baseline	Target	Target	Target	Target	Target
College Readiness*	23.7%	25.5%	27.5%	30.5%	34.5%	39.5%
CTE Pathway Completion*	25.3%	29.8%	32.8%	36.8%	41.8%	45.0%
Students eligible for HOPE Scholarship*	51.2%	54.4%	56.4%	59.4%	62.4%	66.0%
9th grade on-track	73.6%	75.1%	77.1%	80.1%	84.5%	90.0%
PSAT 8/9 on-track for College Readiness	36.7%	37.7%	39.7%	42.7%	45.7%	51.0%
Reading Grade Level or Above on Milestones – 5th Grade	74.5%	75.0%	77.0%	79.0%	82.0%	85.0%
Elementary Schools Providing Computer Science or STEM Specials	79.0%	85.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

 

Goal 4.C—World-class communication and engagement.

Demonstrate world-class communication and engagement through modeling the value GCPS leadership places on transparent, two-way communication to build stakeholder trust and confidence.

Objectives

• Implement a strategic communications plan to reach the target audiences of families, students, teachers, and the community to share the work of GCPS and solicit input and feedback.
  • Evaluate and reimagine district publications to ensure news and information is relevant, timely, and effectively communicated. 
  • Refresh the GCPS brand to clearly communicate who GCPS is today.
  • Strategically use social media and digital communications to connect with more stakeholders.
  • Elevate student voice by including students in surveys, councils, and district leadership opportunities and providing more opportunities to share their stories.
• Improve two-way communication, engagement, and outreach that connect the community, the schools, and the district office.
  • Prioritize two-way conversations at all levels – teacher-student, family-school, school-district, district-community, etc.
  • Organize school supervision and district supports around clusters (feeder patterns) to deepen knowledge about specific communities and create a single point of contact for families with students in schools across multiple grade bands.
  • Create and maintain a database capturing the community-based partners and resources available to support students academically, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally by cluster.
  • Provide ongoing professional development for family engagement for all staff.
  • Invest in programming and staff for family and community liaisons at district, cluster, and/or school.
• Enhance communication practices to engage diverse families in the GCPS community more
  • Strengthen the accuracy and availability of language translation services for school and community distribution. 
  • Ensure all communication from GCPS is asset-based, culturally responsive, and appropriate.
  • Create and strengthen feedback loops with families in the district’s most frequently spoken languages to plan, implement, and assess activities at school and district levels.
• Reduce variability in parent and family communication processes across all schools. 
  • Establish a common framework for family communications that defines district-approved tools with translation, suggested communication frequency, and consistent topics across the district by grade levels.
  • Create mechanisms for educators and staff to share best practices and lessons learned. 

Key Performance Indicators for the World-class Communication and Engagement Goal

	SY2022	SY2023	SY2024	SY2025	SY2026	SY2027
Indicator	Baseline	Target	Target	Target	Target	Target
Interpreters and translations – Family Survey	94.6%	95.0%	95.0%	95.0%	95.0%	95.0%
Family Survey Participation	14.3%	21.4%	28.6%	35.7%	42.8%	50.0%
Responsive Communication – Family Survey	77.7%	78.7%	80.7%	83.2%	86.2%	90.0%
Parent Portal Account	71.5%	72.5%	74.5%	78.5%	84.5%	90.0%
Parent Portal Account Login	N/A	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD