Below are your weekly updates and reminders from the Georgia Department of Education. Here are your links to the District Deadlines and To-Dos Dashboard and the Digest Archive.
Leadership Transition: A Note from Chief of Staff Christy Todd
As you know, Dr. Lydia Powell was elected as State School Superintendent earlier this month. Dr. Powell’s term will begin January 11, 2027. Over the next two months, State School Superintendent Richard Woods and I — along with the entire GaDOE team — are laser-focused on ensuring a smooth, thoughtful, and professional transition. Our focus remains on delivering a high level of service and support to your districts, schools, educators, and students, and on working closely with Dr. Powell and her transition team to ensure they are ready to support you on day one. We will continue to communicate any information you and your teams may need through the Weekly Digest. Superintendent Woods would also like to express his gratitude for your leadership, and for the opportunity to work with each of you over the last 12 years. Thank you for your continued partnership and all you do for Georgia’s students!
Real-Time Attendance Data and Real-World Solutions
Three new attendance resources are available to support schools’ efforts to improve chronic absenteeism. Real-time chronic absenteeism data can be accessed in the MyGaDOE Portal using the new components in
Student Record. Additionally, Attendance Works and FutureED have released their updated Attendance Playbook and Implementation Guide to provide real-world solutions for schools and leaders.
- Additional Information: Attendance Data in Student Record | Attendance Playbook | Attendance Works Implementation Guide
- Contact: Tabathia Baldy, tabathia.baldy@doe.k12.ga.us
District Spotlight
At Lovin Elementary in Gwinnett County, students help reduce cafeteria food waste by collecting fruit and vegetable scraps for compost, sharing unopened food, and sending salad scraps to the school’s chickens. The school’s composting program also gives students hands-on learning opportunities, and some food scraps are shared with Creative Enterprises for its garden. Lovin students now compost about 100 pounds of produce each week and collect around 100 share-table items each lunch.
- Additional Information: AP Article