Staff Members that are Parents with Students Currently Enrolled in FCS:
Online Input for the 2013-16 Strategic Plan
1. If you were talking to someone about FCS, what would you tell them are the key strengths
of the schools, those things that stand-out in supporting student success?
Comments
Teachers - Teachers are a strong force in Forsyth County, and they put in many hours working
towards student success; well trained; are supported, cooperative; highly qualifies; good
relationships with kids; differentiate instruction; professional; motivate students; passionate;
willing to stay late to help kids (Mentioned 36 times)
Parents and Students - Parents and students generally partner well with school staff to support
student success. There is a place for all students in FC – special; buildings are full with parent
volunteers; good communication with teachers (Mentioned 25 times)
Very high levels of instruction - Students being challenged with application of the standards and
higher order thinking. Teachers that move beyond the standards and teach children to their
potential; excellent curriculum; high test scores; monitor student success
Technology – latest technology to use, extra mile to help students; ANGEL, Edmodo,
ParentPortal; computer labs, laptop carts, whiteboard and accessories; BYOT (Mentioned 18
times)
Administrators – are approachable; support from Central Office; build positive climate
Recovery opportunities for students
Progressive school district – stays on forefront of educational issues
Professional development – vertical planning
Communication and transparency; sense of community
Support services (therapies, health services, nurses etc.) that are not always provided by other
counties.
Extra help for struggling students in high school before and after school as well as Saturday
school. RTI time in elementary schools as well as EIP.
Programs for students - AP classes, IB program, STEM, ROTC, robotics
Support for SPED & ESOL
Resources available to teachers
Increased graduation rate
Schools are safe
BOE cares about all schools
2. As FCS plans for the future, what should the district maintain to support student success
(i.e. programs/initiatives)?
Suggestions
Technology – BYOT for all children; add iPads and more tech carts; continue to be a leader; kids
don’t like to huddle around devices – provide for them
Increase in parent trainings
Staff Members that are Parents with Students Currently Enrolled in FCS:
Online Input for the 2013-16 Strategic Plan
Curriculum – more time on training for standards, digger deeper into them and providing
programs (and sticking to them) to support the standards; training for students to interact and
function in social settings;
Continue to support struggling learners - EIP& RTI programs; summer school; extended day; peerto-peer assistance; RTI, Instructional Focus; Saturday academy; early morning/after schools
sessions; IEP monitoring
Professional development – training in technology, data teams
Foreign language - bring back Spanish (mentioned 15 times); add Chinese
Personnel – more teachers, restore funding, highly qualified teachers for all positions, pay
incentives
Lower class size (mentioned 23 times)
Continue special programs – horizons, honor classed
Textbooks – we need them; not enough ELA books (parents shouldn’t have to purchase); need
them for special education; continue online texts; textbooks for all kids
Music and art; band and chorus
Improve communication between coaches and teachers
Keep PE and recess
IE2
Continue programs with no additional cut backs
Continue GAPSS
Literacy Design; focus on reading and writing
STEM and IB
Revisit exemptions from finals to help with attendance
Do a better job to reach mid to low range kids
Positively Forsyth
Continue to increase grad rate
Hard to raise money to support programs in schools
Upgrade athletic facilities
Nurses are a must – keep at every school
Continue creative ways of learning (Academy @ Night, online learning, etc) – more home based
learning
School counselors
Spend more money at older high schools
ITS at every school
Maintain autonomy between schools
SAT push
Staff Members that are Parents with Students Currently Enrolled in FCS:
Online Input for the 2013-16 Strategic Plan
Career Pathways, ROTC, dual enrollment with Lanier Tech
Less administrative positions and more grassroots instructors
Ability to earn more hs credit in middle school – look at online options in ms
Provide transportation for students to be able to stay after school or arrive early for extra
instruction
Flexibility to use money where needed
No early release days
3. In what areas do you believe FCS needs to improve to better support student success?
Comments
Lower class sizes (mentioned 46 times)
Too many programs – kids are forever pulled out
Para support for students with IEPs
More communication between district, staff and teachers
Parent/teacher communications – getting info home to them
More advanced/honors classed
Better balance between sports and academics
More student access to Horizons and EIP
Teachers need to use resources available to them, such as ANGEL
More support staff to accommodate the needs of students
Career Tech - More variety of course offerings for students not college bound; bring back
automotive and welding; bring in guest speakers from real world; more business involvement
(mentioned 7 times)
Professional development - More training for teachers especially in the area of using and
monitoring research based teaching strategies; balance between collaboration (mentioned 16
times)
Foreign language in elementary school (mentioned 9 times)
Technology – BYOT, more computer labs
Limit the number of initiatives introduced each year - Although the FCS tries to continually be on
top - it seems at times that there are too many irons in the fire to really fully embrace something.
As teachers we would not overload students and expect them to be able to succeed; stop
changing programs/initiatives every year; keep it simple (mentioned 26 times)
More materials on Safari
Increase student accountability
Perhaps creating FCS after school care programs that include programs that will build on student
self esteem, support home learning initiatives, provide academic support, and include activities
that enhance student abilities.
Staff Members that are Parents with Students Currently Enrolled in FCS:
Online Input for the 2013-16 Strategic Plan
More focused counseling at the high school level to find out how students are doing and
managing their classes, help them with setting vocational goals, and discuss possible majors of
study for college.
Improve transition from ms to hs
Special ed – more staff, support parents better; more life skills; more training and support of
dyslexic students
Teach reading to ESOL; more resources for them
Textbooks – provide them
Strong cultures at all high schools
Remove negative teachers
Step/pay increase for staff – will build positive moral
Keep BOE visible in schools
Communication and involvement of the Hispanic community
Year round school
Equitable facilities and resources
High school counselors – need more of them, spend times on kids in career tech fields
Better training for administrators
Fund athletics
Build new schools
4. As FCS plans for the next three years, the areas of instruction, personnel, technology,
facilities, and funding have been identified as key priorities. What additional areas, if any,
should be a key priority?
Suggestions
Professional development – make it a priority; target training; incorporate technology into it
Technology - From Angel to Edmodo, to Safari, from Activstudio and Activstudio 2 the
ActivInspire...we've got to stick with some operating systems that teachers/students/parents can
learn and be successful with; quit adding new things every year – confusing for staff and parents;
love technology but hate that it drives instruction; update it; remove 4 computers from
classroom and create labs (mentioned 28 times)
Special Ed – appropriate classes for MI/MO students
Community partners
Smaller class sizes
Discipline
More facilities – build middle school, North HS relief; relieve overcrowding (mentioned 13 times)
Paras for special ed
Pay - Add back tiers/steps for staff; pay to match high expectations demanded of teachers; going
Staff Members that are Parents with Students Currently Enrolled in FCS:
Online Input for the 2013-16 Strategic Plan
to lose teachers; increase to reflect sacrifices made and to acknowledge commitment; pay
teachers what they are worth (mentioned 36 times)
Year round schooling
Graduate more kids
Transportation - New school buses and air conditioning; better discipline on buses
Team building
Procedures and follow-through on them
Foreign language in es – Spanish, Chinese
Reading recovery
Better feeder plans
Math in traditional format More community involvement
Hire more teachers
Update older high schools
More virtual learning
5. What else do you want us to consider in the 2013-16 Strategic Plan?
Suggestions
Rezoning - Better redistricting plan for more balanced schools. I also think FC gives in to parents
too easily to some parents and frightens others too easily; balance out schools; redistribute kids
(mentioned 7 times)
We must have a report card that correlates with the CC standards
Technology – more, gear it to lower functioning kids; move to Apple; BYOT for all kids
Special ed and gifted programming
Fund new high school, more schools, don’t want to end up like Gwinnett; schools getting too big
(mentioned 15 times)
Year round school
Get rid of half-days
Fund teacher salaries (mentioned 44 times)
Better designs for schools, including parking and campus access
Professional development – make it a focus
MS feeder sports programs like Cobb and Gwinnett
Better approach to Common Core
Novel sets
Hire more teachers
Smaller class sizes
Fix overcrowding at schools - NFHS
Staff Members that are Parents with Students Currently Enrolled in FCS:
Online Input for the 2013-16 Strategic Plan
If you keep larger class sizes, then hire more paras
Career Academies
Fund specialists for teacher training
Improve grad rate
Think outside the box
Reading recovery
More teacher perks
Global exposure/learning
No school tax for people over 80, not 65
Get more kids to ride bus
Listen to teachers
Shop local program
Foreign language