Georgia Career Academies Project Quarterly Report

DueMarch 31, 2013

Mission and GoalsJust restate your mission and goals from your application – or if they have changed, state that there has been a change then share the revised ones. (These should match the mission and goals in your charter.)

Gordon County College and Career Academy’s mission is taken from research done in the local community and commissioned by the Gordon County Board of Education: “to ensure a viable 21st century workforce.” This mission reflects the cooperative partnership between public education and local business and industry, as represented by key leaders within these organizations: the Gordon County Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC), and the employees, parents and students of Gordon County Schools (GCS). To support legislative intent to “increase student achievement through academic and organizational innovation,” GCCCA will be organized as an extension of the programs of the existing high schools in the Gordon County school district and as an off-campus center of Georgia Northwestern Technical College, with a focus toward integrating academics and advanced career and technical education programs.

GCCCA has committed to obtaining the following goals, which were considered and approved by community planners, as well as by the Local Board. Approval by these stakeholders indicates certainty on the part of the local planners and authorizers that the achievement of these goals is in the public interest and will help the community achieve other measures of individual, community, and economic success.

o Goal I: To enhance Gordon County’s workforce by increasing the number of students completing high school. Objectives: 1) Increase the aggregate number of students in participating districts who attain a high school diploma by 2% each year.  2) Improve the first time pass rate on GHSGT in English/Language Arts among GCCCA students by 2% each year. 3) Improve the first time pass rate on GHSGT in Mathematics among GCCCA students by 2% each year.

o Goal II: To enhance Gordon County’s workforce by increasing the number of students earning college credit while enrolled in high school. Objectives: 1) The number of students attending GCCCA who qualify for postsecondary enrollment status without remediation will increase by 2% each year. 2) The number of GCCCA students receiving post-secondary credits in career and technical post-secondary programs through dual-enrollment, joint enrollment, or articulation will increase by 5% per year.

o Goal III: To enhance Gordon County’s workforce by increasing the number of students placed in jobs and/or earning Work Ready certificates by the time they graduate from high school. Objectives: 1) The number of high school students participating in work-based learning programs (job-shadowing, internships and apprenticeships) will increase by 2% per year. 2) The number of GCCCA students who are employed in a job directly related to technical certificates received or who are enrolled in post-secondary education within six months of graduation from high school will increase by 2% per year. 3) The number of high school students earning a Bronze Level certificate or higher from the Georgia Work Ready program will increase by 2% per year.  4) The number of students who demonstrate technical skill attainment through end of pathway assessment results will increase by 2% per year. There has been discussion among our Board members concerning obstacles that recent changes in the funding formula at the State level for WorkKeys testing will present for collecting this data. We are researching ways to continue to fund the testing or another means of measuring workforce development. GNTC will continue to offer testing at $35/test. We are looking at utilizing data from the End-

of-Pathway assessments, once it becomes available for our students this semester on a limited basis.

GCCCA’s charter “performance-based goals and objectives” are driven by data gathered and considered by a public-private, volunteer Steering Committee. This group is following the state-approved ADDIE process (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate) that requires all curriculum, personnel, governance, facility and funding decisions be driven by data.

A teacher advisory team has been formed to include teachers from CTAE programs at both high schools, as well as ESS and guidance. This group is in the process of analyzing the goals and objectives to determine need for additions or amendments to these. Given the uncertainty of funding for Georgia Work Ready testing, there will most likely be some additional measures put in place for Goal III. A student advisory group is also being formed. Once a new draft is completed, the BOD will approve these changes.

NeedUnless something has changed, or you have developed additional plans for continuous needs assessment, no comment necessary here.

GCCCA has developed a formal needs assessment survey, and data will be analyzed in partnership with the newly-appointed Board of Directors. Preliminary data from steering committee members has been used to make decisions concerning courses that will be offered at GNTC in fall 2011. Additionally, the data will be consulted to determine offerings to be put on high school registration forms in February 2012 to be scheduled in Fall 2012

GCCCA is hosted a successful promotional event on April 24, 2012, featuring the Lt. Gov. as the keynote speaker, as well as students involved in our current CTAE programs. During this event, we addressed 200+ business and industry leaders and parents to encourage them to give us feedback on how we can meet their needs.

PartnershipsFeel free to brag about any new or strengthened partnerships here.

Officials at GNTC have made available office and classroom space on its Gordon County campus for GCCCA administration and classes. Additional space was made available to add Graphic Design to the GCCCA course list for fall 2012. Additionally, GNTC will teach CNA through dual enrollment on each of the high school campuses until a facility can be built. In fall 2013, additional space will be made to allow for academic co-teaching.

BudgetThis is an opportunity to reference where you are in depleting your fund including total spent and what’s been enhanced as a result. If you have any additional budget information that you would like to share, feel free to do so (but please do not use this report to ask for funds.)

GCAP funds in FY13 have been spent according to the spreadsheet attached.

Governance & LeadershipIs your board up and running? (If so, who are the members?) Have you had any meetings? Please share once a meeting schedule is developed.

The Board has been formally named. o The superintendent of Gordon County Schools and the President of Georgia Northwestern

Technical College will serve as ex officio members. o Five members of our business community have agreed to sit as Board members:

Randall Fox, President/CEO of Fox Systems, Inc.; Jeff Gazaway, Plant Manager of Evco Plastics, Regional Member of Georgia Work

Ready Network, and parent; Becky Hood, Comcast Cable Sales Executive, Gordon County Commissioner, and

parent; Blake Poole, Tennessee Office of Economic Development, special projects liaison-

including Volkswagen; and Damon Walker, parent. Phil Brown, VP- Human Resources for Mohawk Industries

Brian Cooksey, Director of Training and Operations for Shaw Industrieso Regular meetings began on July 7, 2011, and have been held monthly. The 2013 meeting

schedule is 8:00 a.m. on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. Regular meetings occur at GNTC in office suite 314.

TimelinesThis one needs to be addressed. Where have been, where are you now, and where are you going? Please also highlight the date upon which you estimate your doors swinging open to students.

GCCCA has been awarded Charter status through the Gordon County System Charter approval. A CEO has been named. An Administrative Assistant has been hired. An attorney has been retained for the purpose of setting up incorporation documents, and papers have

been filed with the appropriate State entities. 501c3 status has been obtained. Additionally, the attorney is working on a draft of bylaws that will be presented at the first Board of

Directors’ meeting. A final draft has been approved by the Board of Directors. Environmental studies have been completed on the land that was slated for the building site; there has

been confirmation that the site will not meet DOE standards, and alternate sites in close proximity of GNTC are being explored.

We are in discussions with local extension agents, the Board of Regents, and UGA about obtaining land across from GNTC Gordon for the purpose of building the facility. We have finally received an offer from UGA to purchase the property. A contract was submitted to explore the appraisal process and move forward with the purchase. The appraisals yielded a much higher value than the Board is willing to pay for the property; however, an offer has been made to renovate the livestock pavilion adjacent to the property in exchange for the property. We have not heard word from the officials at UGA as to where they stand on our offer; however, the BOD has voted to withdraw this offer and move forward with pursuing building on the GNTC property.

GNTC has offered land adjacent to the current Gordon County campus for the facility to be constructed. We are moving forward with this plan concurrently, and architectural plans are being drawn to fit this site as appropriate studies are being conducted.

Fall 2013 remains the planned opening for students in a new facility; however, classes began at GNTC in fall 2011 on a limited basis. These offerings will be expanded in August 2012 to include a Graphic Design pathway

A marketing firm has been secured, and a full marketing campaign is underway. The initial launch of the new “look” was unveiled in the Calhoun Dancing with the Stars Event and in the advertisement for the April 24 promotional event and carried through the event itself.

A successful promotional event was held on April 24, 2012, featuring Lt. Gov. Cagle. The target audience for this event was business, industry, and community leaders, with 200+ in attendance.

In fall 2012, Graphic Design was added to the course list and Engineering, Drawing, and Design was made full-time.

In spring 2013, planning to co-teach Graphic Design with English and EDD with physics began. This is being scheduled for students beginning fall 2013.

Gordon County Schools closed a deal with Georgia Northwestern College Foundation on March 28, 2013 to purchase property adjacent to the Gordon County Campus of GNTC. The address for the Gordon County College and Career Academy will be 305 Beamer Road, S.W., Calhoun, GA 30701.

Attached are the front elevation and floor plans for the facility in their latest draft form. We are encountering some difficulty in design and curriculum, along with State Capital Equipment grant

applications due to the changes in the DOE curriculum and lack of information on suggested lab layouts. Specifically logistics, energy, and automation are undergoing major changes- in completely different program areas and lab layouts than when the design process began. The CEO is working with DOE staff to clarify the impact this may have on the design of the building and the grant availablilty.

Career & College Focus

There may not be anything to say here yet, but do ask that you identify planned programs of study and if you have had discussions regarding dual enrollments, internships,… (as described in the rubrics) this is the place to summarize them.

Programs of study that will be included in the initial architectural plans, based upon needs assessment data and parallel perceived student interests are as follows (subject to change based upon site/architectural plans):

o Graphic arts/designo Automation/Roboticso Architectural Drawing and Designo Logisticso Alternative Energy/Fuel o Aquacultureo Work-based Learningo Dual enrollment: CNA (to begin on high school campuses 2012-13), public safety, dental

assisting, speech

We recently received signed articulation agreements for GNTC

Grade LevelsWhat grades levels are you planning to start and when?

Grades 9-12 in fall 2011

Enrollment & Student FocusIf you have established an enrollment process, please describe. It would be great to have a breakout of student numbers per program.

An enrollment procedure is being developed in conjunction with the system leadership team as a part of the system charter development process. This enrollment procedure will adhere to the terms of the Charter to be as inclusive as possible and will address enrollment of part-time students into programs of interest.

A policy has been adopted by the Gordon County Board of Education to accept students on a part-time basis.

Student SupportIt may be too early to have done anything here – but if you already worked on counseling services, mentoring… this is the place to say so!

The CEO attended the Regional Counselors’ Workshop, and plans are being developed with Student Services for addressing Bridge legislation requirements, along with HB186- to include Career Academy as a viable option for students’ IGP.

A locally-developed counselor evaluation instrument is being developed and will include career and Bridge Bill counseling services in relation to CCRPI

Standards & CurriculumHave you started any advisory committees yet? How is your instructional design system working (ADDIE or similar)?

The Board of Directors is being consulted, as well as the existing industry committees through the Chamber of Commerce, as decisions are being made.

Teacher Advisory Committee has been formed

StructureYou may not have any comment about this yet - unless you have already been doing something to give the academy its “own culture”.

The teacher advisory committee that includes CTAE teachers from both high schools has expressed an interest in evaluating the focus of their teaching strategies so that they can be included in the College and Career Academy, forming “satellite campuses” at their respective high schools. This would provide the opportunity for students from all over the district to attend the high school where the program of

interest lies. The Board of Directors and GCS Board of Education are very interested in pursuing the venture.

Faculty & StaffDescribe any work that may have been done regarding job descriptions, professional development plans, and common planning time. Again, it may be too soon to address this.

See Job Description for CEO and Administrative Assistant

EvaluationProbably no data to share yet – but please don’t lose sight of our need to extract individual student data in order to prove success, as the GDOE does not yet have a system in place to pull CA student data.

A teacher advisory team has been formed to include teachers from CTAE programs at both high schools, as well as ESS and guidance. This group is in the process of analyzing the goals and objectives to determine need for additions or amendments to these. Given the uncertainty of funding for Georgia Work Ready testing, there will most likely be some additional measures put in place for Goal III- most likely End-of-Pathway/Technical Skill attainment data. A student advisory group is also being formed. Once a new draft is completed, the BOD will approve these changes.

Cycle of ImprovementIf you have given any thought to getting feedback from stakeholders, and/or continuous improvement, include your comments here. It may be too soon to respond to this one too.

A teacher advisory team has been formed to include teachers from CTAE programs at both high schools, as well as ESS and guidance. This group is in the process of analyzing the goals and objectives to determine need for additions or amendments to these.

As part of the CTAE advisory council meetings, the CCA program areas will be represented and present information to stakeholders during these semi-annual meetings

A building advisory council consisting of stakeholder for business and industry have evaluated architectural plans to give input on electrical supplies and equipment needs for each lab.

Charter School LawPlease describe your Charter School status – date approved. If not yet approved, when do you expect to have your charter approved?

State BOE presentation on April 13, 2011; Approval granted April 13, 2011.