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Barrow County schools highlight pre-K campaign, Bethlehem Elementary programs and career/STEM initiatives
Summary
At the Feb. 4 meeting, the district recognized student authors and custodians, showed its pre-K ‘Bold Beginnings’ video, and heard presentations on Bethlehem Elementary’s PBIS and clubs, the YES transition program, the AIM magnet and school robotics.
The Barrow County Board of Education heard multiple presentations on Feb. 4 showcasing early-childhood outreach, schoolwide behavior programs, extracurricular clubs and career/STEM pathways.
Why it matters: the presentations provide a snapshot of in-school enrichment, family-engagement efforts and workforce-readiness programs that district leaders say complement core instruction.
District communications staff and principals presented the Bold Beginnings pre-K campaign and showed a short video promoting pre-kindergarten enrollment. The campaign package includes a stuffed-animal giveaway and certificates for participating pre-K students; speakers credited the communications team and school staff for producing the materials.
Bethlehem Elementary’s assistant principal, Stephanie Martin, and third-grade teacher and PBIS coach Jessica Martin described schoolwide behavior supports. Jessica Martin said students have earned more than 300,000 points on a PBIS digital rewards platform this year, which are redeemed for school-store items and quarterly activities such as ice-cream days and special assemblies. The school highlighted student clubs including archery, LEGO Club, garden club and a student-run coffee cart that teaches job skills and teamwork.
Career and transition programs also received attention. Sims Academy staff described the YES program, a transition-to-work initiative for seniors that pairs classroom instruction with paid internships and community partners such as Goodwill of Northeast Georgia and Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. The district described YES as serving seniors from Winder-Barrow High School, Apalachee High School and the Barrow Arts and Sciences Academy.
The Arts and Innovation Magnet (AIM) program — a sixth- through eighth-grade STEAM arts-integrated option at the Center for Innovative Teaching campus — was presented as a project-based model that uses specialized spaces such as a dance studio, makerspace and Black Box Theater. Presenters said AIM emphasizes creative artifacts, performances and collaborative projects in addition to traditional assessments.
The board also recognized staff and community volunteers: a head custodian at an elementary school and several community mentors were named for their service, and winners of the Share Your Story student-writing competition were acknowledged.
Ending: presenters emphasized family engagement and community partnerships as central to student success and encouraged parents to enroll children in pre-K and to consider mentorship or program partnerships.
