NEWTON COUNTY — At the Newton County Board of Education meeting last Tuesday, June 17, Newton County Schools (NCS) released the district’s quarter three (Q3) report.
The third quarterly report of the year was presented by Benjamin Roundtree, special assistant to the superintendent. Roundtree highlighted the district’s productivity in the 2024-25 school year.
Under academics, the district’s teaching and learning team made strides in improving literacy instruction during Q3. This included strict adherence to House Bill 538, or the Georgia Early Literacy Act, which is focuses on improving early reading instruction in Georgia schools.
Universal literacy screenings were also identified earlier in the year and are still currently in use. Instructional minutes for literacy were clarified in Q3 and will be implemented in the master schedules of each school for the 2025-26 school year.
After a year of professional development, South Salem and East Newton Elementary school teachers completed the REAP early literacy pilot. This program will expand to six schools for the 2025-26 school year. The district’s core resource for reading instruction was also updated during Q3.
“As expected, the district’s literacy work will continue into the 2025-26 school year with a focus on strengthening students’ literacy foundation and implementing research-based literacy instructional practices, interventions and support systems,” Roundtree said.
The literacy plan will be synthesized into a single, comprehensive guidebook. Across the district, administrators and teachers will immerse themselves in our collective call to action to reimagine and rebuild literacy education in NCS to ensure that every student has the skills to read, write and engage critically with the world around them.”
During the final quarter, the district’s teaching and learning team continued the NCS Excellence in Teaching Framework. This framework will be used across all grade levels and content areas in Newton County.
In quarter two, interim assessments began across select subject areas starting at third grade and spanning into high school. These assessments will also be administered throughout the next school year to continue to monitor students’ progress towards their specific learning goals.
Under operations, in communication efforts to ensure the board’s organizational transparency, the procurement department hosted two “How To Do Business” seminars with NCS.
“This initiative underscores this board’s commitment to ensuring that interested vendors, including local, minority-owned, women-owned and small business enterprises, have clarity on how to pursue business opportunities with Newton County Schools,” Roundtree said.
With this organizational transparency, NCS made its eSPLOST tracker active on the district’s website to share real-time progress on each project with stakeholders.
On the subject of removing barriers in student learning, NCS reinforced several initiatives during Q3 to encourage student attendance and boost parent engagement. This included student attendance committees, well-defined school-based communication systems and continual enhancement of the Parent Connect Initiative.
For culture and engagement, the first HERO Awards were held during this quarter to recognize the district’s classified professionals, from bus drivers to paraprofessionals. Also, to honor the contributions of library media professionals across the district, they hosted the Media Specialist of the Year reception.
The THRIVE assistant principal academy was launched in Q3. This professional development program is the first of its kind and involved 20 participants in its inaugural cohort.
In preparation for the 2025-26 school year, Roundtree addressed the Q3 continued aspirational goals.
NCS is seeking to increase advanced placement (AP) and dual enrollment (DE) courses, as well as enrolling students from underrepresented populations into these courses. Counseling initiatives and recruitment fairs were implemented to support this work.
Beginning in the upcoming school year, a core set of AP courses will be offered at all high schools. Also, each based high school will offer two in-house DE English courses as well as DE coursework in engineering.
Students who complete this track will earn DE credit and will receive a technical college certificate. In alignment with NCS’s goal to increase pathway completers throughout the district, students will also receive credit for the end-of-pathway assessment upon course completion.
“The fulfilment of the aspirational goals will result in a significantly higher number of students participating in advanced placement and dual enrollment courses and broaden diversity among the student pool,” Roundtree said. “Board, this is the definition of creating more access and opportunities for the students of Newton County Schools.”
Q3 also saw work in developing the NCS Workforce Development Framework to prepare all students for workforce success.
“As we formally conclude the 2024-25 school year, I want to thank this board for your leadership, and I commend the efforts of my colleagues and their teams for embracing and executing on such important work,” Roundtree said.
“There is no mistaking that we have been focused in our efforts, that we have reported in our progress with consistency and with a commitment to transparency. And we are moving the organization forward aligned to the expressive desires of our community.”
