Two Peachtree Corners Women to Receive Gwinnett Chamber Awards

Events include 65th annual Gwinnett Chamber Dinner Feb. 1 at which Peachtree Corners businesswoman Barbara Howard and Gwinnett Board of Education Member Dr. Mary Kay Murphy and others will receive awards.

The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce will honor and recognize the recipients of its 2012 Public Service Awards, R. Wayne Shackelford Legacy Award, D. Scott Hudgens Humanitarian Award, and Citizen of the Year Award at the 65th Annual Dinner Presented by Gwinnett Medical Center on Feb. 1, 2013. The formal celebration will take place at the Thomas P. Hughes Grand Ballroom at Gwinnett Center in Duluth with a reception beginning at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m. “The dinner serves as a celebration of the citizens of Gwinnett who – by their service, volunteerism and commitment – allow our community to reach new heights and set goals to strive for in the future,” said Raymer Sale, 2012 Gwinnett Chamber Chairman and president of E2E Resources …

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Area School Board Meeting in Duluth Tonight

District III Area Meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. April 17 at Duluth High School will include school superintendent's annual address on state of the schools.

The Gwinnett Board of Education has scheduled the annual District III Area Meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, in the theater at Duluth High School, 3737 Brock Road. The meeting provides an opportunity for the board to share information with the public and for citizens to speak on education topics. Gwinnett County Public Schools CEO/Supt. Alvin Wilbanks will present his annual address on the state of the school district during the meeting. Parents and Cluster School representatives have signed up to speak before the board, according to Jorge Quintana, GCPS director of media relations. Refreshments will be served during a reception at 6:30 p.m. prior to the Tuesday night meeting. The board meets in all five school board members' districts…

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Judy Putnam

10:26 am on Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The budget meeting is set for 6 p.m. prior to the 6:30 p.m. reception.   more ›

Dr. Mary Kay Murphy Announces Re-election Plans

Dr. Murphy has served on the Gwinnett County Board of Education since January 1997 and as board chair in 2000, 2004 and 2010.

  District III Gwinnett County Board of Education member Mary Kay Murphy, Ph.D., announced Thursday (Feb. 16) that she will seek re-election in November 2012. Her reapportioned school board district includes Duluth, Norcross, Peachtree Corners, Berkeley Lake, Suwanee, North Gwinnett and Sugar Hill. “I am running for another term to continue my work as a builder of Gwinnett County k-12 public schools and communities,” Dr. Murphy said. “I have a strong record of curriculum reform, fiscal responsibility, and student safety in our 133 local public schools.” Murphy has been a member of the Gwinnett school board since January 1997. She served as school board chairman in 2000, 2004 and 2010. “In 2010 when I was board chair, we received the Eli …

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Judy Putnam

5:11 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012

Duluth Mom: Let me explain why Ms. Murphy's announcement ran in the Duluth Patch and the Peachtree Corners Patch on separate days. Each Patch site is run independently, the editor of each Patch decides what stories are run and when. The Duluth Patch editor chose to run Ms. Murphy's announcement on Thursday, while I decided to run it today. I chose today simply because it fit in better with the …   more ›

Gwinnett School Insights

GCPS Leaders Meet With Congress

Trip to Washington, D.C. brought discussions with U.S. Sens.Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss on the federal governments' supportive role in the education achievement of Gwinnett County Public School students.

  Bringing a message from Gwinnett County to the Capitol Hill is a vital responsibility. As part of the 2012 Federal Relations Network of the National School Boards Association, I joined 25 other school board members from the State of Georgia in bringing messages to our federal elected officials about the interests in public education of our constituents back home. The messages had to do with current legislation being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives and by the U.S. Senate. Our visit to Capitol Hill took place on Tuesday, a day when many legislators have returned to the nation’s capital from their home districts and are accepting meetings from their constituents back home. We were fortunate to find many in the Georgia …

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Gwinnett School Districts Realigned

District 3 representative, Dr. Mary Kay Murphy, will continue serving the county's public schools in Peachtree Corners. No students will change schools anywhere in the Gwinnett system.

  Gwinnett County Public Schools district lines have been redrawn as a result of the 2010 U.S. Census. The realignment of the school system's five districts do not affect students. Each school is represented by one of five school board members. Dr. Mary Kay Murphy is the District 3 board member who has represented the Norcross and Duluth cluster of schools. The redrawn maps has changed that alignment somewhat. However, Dr. Murphy will continue to represent the schools that serve students living in the new city of Peachtree Corners. With the formation of Peachtree Corners, six schools in the Norcross cluster and three in the Duluth cluster serve students who live within the borders of the new city. Following are the schools now in District …

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Gwinnett School Insights

A New Year in Gwinnett Public Education

"What should Gwinnett County Public Schools look and be like in the next decade?”

  As our nation and community prepare to enter 2012, the School Board and Superintendent are updating Gwinnett County Public Schools’ Strategic Priorities for 2010-2020. Also, we are seeking community input related to the Academic Knowledge and Skills Curriculum through meetings of the GEMS Oversight Committee. At the five GCPS Area Board meetings in March and April of 2012, we will report to community members feedback that we have received related to these two important initiatives. We invite this feedback to help the school system collaborate with those whose support is vital to sustaining a high performing school district that provides a quality and effective education for every student. Sustaining the excellent academic reputation that…

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David Leader

8:05 am on Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Highest ethical standards? Until we desolve tenure they won't do anything of the sort; we've been promised all of these things by everyone since the 90s, when the US began its sharp decline. The research has shown that teachers end up stopping caring, since they end up with too many people trying to do their job and no incentive to do it right. So until we go to a merit-based pay system where …   more ›

Gwinnett School Insights

Online Source Offers Helpful Educational Material

Southern Regional Education Board provides a variety of resource information on its website.

A significant community resource provides studies and reports that advance our knowledge of the importance of public education to our community.  A major resource free on the internet is available through the Southern Regional Education Board in Atlanta.   Over many years, I have found SREB materials to be most helpful to me in my role as a member of the Gwinnett County Board of Education.  I have long been familiar with the work of SREB, having the privilege of working as a staff member of the organization early in my career during the leadership era of Dr. Winfred Godwin, President of SREB. Southern Regional Education Board is a veritable think tank of legislative, educational, policy, and statistical studies of K-12 and higher education…

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Gwinnett School Insights

Building Civic Capacity to Support Public Education

Insights and information on the schools in your community.

As your Gwinnett County Public Schools District III School Board member, it is my privilege to communicate with you through this opinion column in the Peachtree Corners-Berkeley Lake Patch.  The Gwinnett County Public School System’s goal is to be a good neighbor for Gwinnett and to share best practices about teaching and learning and community development with those who can benefit.  I am grateful for the support of those community members who are parents with children in our public schools as well as those with no children in our schools for helping us create and sustain the best urban public school system in the nation I am also grateful to our community for working to build the civic capacity to support public education. In 2010, the …

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