Newton County Schools Announces Organizational Priorities for the 2024-2025 School Year
As the Newton County School System (NCS) gears up for the 2024-2025 academic year, Superintendent Dr. Duke Bradley, III, in close collaboration with the members of the Newton County Board of Education, has unveiled the district's strategic organizational priorities. These priorities, which have been co-developed with the board, were informed by stakeholder insights gleaned over the past several months.
These priorities span across academics, operations, and culture and engagement.
Academics
The cornerstone of NCS's academic strategy for the upcoming year is the development of a clear and comprehensive literacy strategy, slated for launch in 2025. This initiative will be supported by identifying essential, research-based resources to bolster literacy education across all NCS schools. Furthermore, the district is committed to strengthening the instructional core by establishing common expectations for curriculum usage, instructional planning, academic intervention, and assessment.
Bradley said, “Our core work is student achievement—so this is where our primary focus will be. But it’s not just about literacy. Our community has very clearly shown that they want a school system that allows our students to pursue their post-secondary ambitions, and we must deliver on that.”
Operations
NCS will also intensify efforts to bolster staff recruitment and retention. Recognizing the role that auxiliar programming plays in student success, the district aims to introduce ways to remove barriers to learning. These efforts will specifically target mental health support, behavioral intervention strategies, initiatives to improve student attendance, and communication efforts to achieve organizational clarity and transparency in addition to elevated branding and marketing. Additionally, NCS will focus on developing an infrastructure that enhances parent engagement and facilitates streamlined access to essential services and resources.
Culture and Engagement
NCS is dedicated to creating a positive organizational culture and enhancing engagement at all levels. To achieve this, the district plans to increase opportunities for formal employee recognition across multiple divisions and levels within the organization. Extensive professional development opportunities will be provided to support the growth and expertise of NCS personnel. Furthermore, the district is working on developing a more robust reporting structure for Board of Education meetings, ensuring greater community transparency regarding organizational objectives, status, and plans.
“These organizational priorities will serve as the bridge to our forthcoming strategic plan, which we plan to launch in 2025,” said Bradley. “Much of this is foundational work which involves shoring up aspects of the district that need to be strengthened before we move to a full-scale district-wide improvement initiative. I am most excited about soliciting stakeholder feedback to design the future of Newton County Schools.”
“I am most excited about getting out into the community, gathering additional stakeholder insights, and facilitating a process to co-design the future of Newton County Schools.”
Board Chair Abigail Coggin, commented, “These priorities provide clarity and direction, and this is the right work in this moment in time for Newton County Schools. It’s really hard not to be excited about our future.”