Pell City School System Administrators prepare for the upcoming 2017-2018 school year. 

Between discussing new policies and procedures, new schoolbooks and school buses, the Pell City School System administrators were reaching out to the community. 

The Pell City School System administrators held a retreat last week to prepare for the upcoming 2017-2018 school year. The focus of this school year will be G.R.I.T.- Growth, Resilience, Innovation, and Technology. Administrators visited a variety of local businesses in industry, banking, and first responders to foster connections with the community.

School leaders visited Ford Meter Box, WKW, Garrison Steele, Goodgame Company, the St. Clair County Economic Development Council, Metro Bank, Union State Bank, Landmark Credit Union, and Regions Bank. They also visited first responders.

At each respective location, educators asked questions in relation to education. For instance, something employees learned in school that they use everyday and what skill sets students need to have. 

“These (businesses) are our community partners,” Pell City School System Superintendent Dr. Michael Barber said. “We do not want them to forget about us or us to forget about them. We want them to value us and for us to earn that value.”

While working on ways to implement further training and new approaches to education, one of the many things that remained the focus was good connections with faculty, students, parents, and with the community.

Highlighted were points of “show students we care,” “set good examples as teachers,” and “provide multiple opportunities for students to work together.”

In order to implement the new G.R.I.T. initiative, technology coordinator Stacey Weaver suggested, “We need to admit when we make mistakes and we need to celebrate the small successes to encourage our students.” 

One point to help foster resilience in students was to redefine failure as F.A.I.L. (First Attempt In Learning) to show students that is okay when they do not perform well, but it is not okay to not keep trying. 

There were many changes discussed for the upcoming 2017-2018 Pell City School year, some within the purvue of the Pell City Board of Education and some implemented at the state and federal levels. One change is The Pell City Board of Education has approved the purchase of 24 new school buses that should be ready by the beginning of the school year.

At the state level, school meal rates have increased. Prices are now $1.50 for breakfast, lunch for Kindergarten-Sixth Grade is $1.75, grades 7-12 are $2.50, and employees and visitors are $3.00. These do not include discount lunch rates. 

Overall, administrators were excited about the upcoming school year and implementing the key points of G.R.I.T- Growth, Resilience, Innovation, and Technology by keeping learning meaningful and relevant.