Candler County School District

Where Success Beyond Graduation is a Clear Path Forward

Prioritizing innovation and a holistic approach, this leading school district gets top marks

Candler County Schools is an innovative district taking a holistic approach to education. In the words of Superintendent Dr. Bubba Longgrear, “We want every child that graduates from the Candler County school system to have a clear plan of what they want to accomplish afterwards. Through high school, middle school, and elementary school, we are laying the foundational skills that they need, to be successful at that.”

With a strong focus on career and skills development, Candler County is committed to producing well-rounded individuals who are prepared for the challenges that lay ahead of them.

Soft Skills Curriculum and Career Pathways

Superintendent Dr. Bubba Longgrear

The district has developed a pivotal K-12 soft skills curriculum, known as the Seven Habits of a Happy Child. “It’s all about thinking win-win, being respectful, compromise, and  teamwork, and then in middle school, expanding that with job shadowing experiences,” details Dr. Longgrear.

“As we get into the high school grades, it is internships and opportunities to work with our regional and local partners. We start getting really specific and honing in on career choices, building that specific level of success, introducing them to the right people, working on interview skills and those core job skills that are so important to business and industry.”

One of the highlights of the middle school program is the Amazing Shake competition. This international contest pushes students to think on their feet in a variety of challenging scenarios, including conflict resolution and professional networking.

CTAE Director, Dr. Robbie Dollar, elaborates, “Last year, when we began that competition, we had upwards of 50 people engaged over a series of activities or events. Last year we had five students that traveled to Atlanta, to the Ron Clark Academy, and participated in the International competition.”

The Amazing Shake draws significant community support, with local business leaders serving as judges and assistants in the event. “We’re a relatively small community, but as we have more and more individuals move into our community they are afforded the opportunity to be able to connect with influential people that may lend them a hand in any variety of ways, perhaps give them an internship or a work based learning opportunity, perhaps write a letter of recommendation on their behalf, or connect them with someone that they may know in a particular industry or at a particular school. So, we see it having many different positive benefits,” emphasizes Dr. Dollar.

A Focus on Literacy

Dr. Longgrear points to the importance of reading and understanding as a tool for future success. “Literacy is more than just reading Shakespeare and analyzing it,” he says.

“It’s being able to read technical instructions and booklets to gather information, and then execute an action with a machine or any other type of equipment. Every day, we’re asking teachers to have students read at a high level, write at a high level, respond to texts that they’re reading, sharing, defending, debating and so forth.”

The district’s literacy efforts start from an early age, with the implementation of the SWIRL program, which stands for Speaking, Writing, Illustrating, Reading, and Listening. This undertaking spans from pre-K through high school, ensuring that students are constantly engaging in high-level reading and communication activities.

The SWIRL Bus, which travels to various parts of the community during the summer, brings story time to children, while also distributing books and providing snacks and activities.

At the Pre-K level, the district has also introduced the Heggerty reading program, which has a strong focus on phonics. “Historically, Pre-K has been more of an adjustment to school, a lot of socialization, a lot of exploratory learning. Now we’re getting very deliberate with phonemic awareness, even at that four year old level, because research shows there’s a window birth to five that you really can max out on in terms of language acquisition,” he explains.

In addition, the district is reaching out to families of children from birth to four years old, inviting them into schools to model reading and speaking activities. “We want you to come into the building. We want to model reading and speaking and different things with the goal of changing the literacy capacity for not only our school students, but for our community. And we’ve seen a lot of momentum,” Dr. Longgrear adds.

Building Strong Partnerships with Local Businesses

The district’s commitment to preparing students for the workforce can be seen in its collaboration with local and regional employers. The construction of the Metter College and Career Academy serves as a prime example. Currently under development, this 32,000-square-foot facility will provide students with state-of-the-art labs for construction, agricultural mechanics, and healthcare science.

Dr. Longgrear remarks, “I cannot say enough about our partnership with Candler County Hospital and what they do for us, having representation on our college and career academy board, and the opportunities they give our students to get some real world experience.”

Notably, several local businesses have hired students to work on the construction of the academy itself, providing them with valuable hands-on experience.

“For a number of years, we’ve had good relationships with employers within our community, and that’s being exhibited because we have several students that are employed by local businesses that are participatory in the construction of this new Metter College and Career Academy building,” depicts Dr. Dollar. He expresses the district’s gratitude for the fine work of Pope Construction, Davis Heating and Air, D & S Electric, and Blue Steel, who have played a major role in the construction efforts.

“Beyond that, we have a number of great relationships with local and regional partners,” Dr. Dollar acknowledges. This extends to companies like DAS, Daniel Defense, and the Georgia Ports Authority, all offering opportunities for recent graduates seeking employment.

“There are some really wonderful collaborations between us and the community and the region,” he continues. “We realize that we’re trying to produce a dynamic and innovative workforce, and our local businesses are understanding of the fact that they need to support us in that regard, and we can help one another in building this village.”

The Georgia Grown Innovation Center, a collaborative project between the Georgia Department of Agriculture and Georgia Southern University, is another valuable resource to the community. “They let us use that facility for Georgia FLEX competitions, and entrepreneur events, but it’s an incubator for people in the community who want to start businesses. Their partnership is amazing,” maintains Dr. Longgrear.

In addition, Candler County Schools works to maintain strong engagement with families and the community, utilizing an app based platform to help spread information. Public

Relations Director, Broni Gainous shares, “We’re in year two of having Apptegy as our provider. It is more user friendly for our constituents, but also for our other stakeholders in the community, because it has its own live feed so they can go on and see our news for any school and for the district as a whole. If they download our app, it will push out  notifications in the event of an emergency or any important information we need to get out to all students.”

Teacher Preparation and Retention

Recognizing the importance of quality educators, Candler County Schools is also investing in the future of its teaching workforce. The district has launched a teacher preparation program in partnership with the Georgia Department of Education and the Rural Education Initiative. High school students interested in becoming educators can intern in local schools, earn credit, and work toward certification. “We’ve been so focused on preparing students for different industries, we maybe have been a little neglectful in terms of growing our own teachers,” Dr. Longgrear admits. “We’re the largest employer in the county, and we just have to really be cognizant of focusing on our own.”

The district is participating in a pilot program with the Georgia Leads evaluation model, replacing the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System previously used by the Department of Education.

“It’s truly more of a coaching model. Coaches and administrators are in the classroom, peer teachers that are in a leadership role are in the classroom, truly trying to help young teachers grow,” describes Dr. Longgrear. “We feel like if we can get people to a level where they have confidence, they feel like they’re effective, they have the skills needed to be successful, they’re more likely to stay in the profession.”

A Vision for the Future

The Candler County School District remains dedicated to ensuring that its students are well-prepared for life after graduation, with a focus on equipping them with a solid foundation of skills, confidence, and opportunities.

As for what lies ahead, Dr. Longgrear says, “We are going to keep on with the work we are focused on right now. We want our students to have an unfair advantage on a number of fronts, especially in literacy and career development, because they have had the opportunity to be part of the Candler County school system.”

AT A GLANCE

Candler County School District

What: A progressive school district equipping students for future success

Where: Metter, Georgia

Website: www.metter.org