The King Springs PTA received several competitive awards at the Georgia PTA District 9 Spring Conference.  District 9 includes schools in Cobb, Paulding, Douglas, Carroll, Polk, and Haralson Counties, and over 66,000 individuals are members are of this group.  

King Springs took home a total of 7 awards -- including the two most prestigious awards possible at the District level! 

• Model PTA Award, because we satisfied our administrative requirements (attend trainings, submit dues, keep plans of work, etc.) and worked to increase family engagement at our local school level.
• Outstanding Family-School Partnership Award, which is given to the one local PTA unit that serves as the best example of families, schools, and communities working together to support student achievement. This is a testament to the strong partnership between the KSE PTA and our school's administrators!
• Family-School Partnership Award of Excellence -- Welcoming All Families, which is given to the local PTA unit that best represents the National PTA Standard of "Welcoming All Families."  With this award, we were recognized for providing every student with a House Color t-shirt, developing a New Family Resources Sheet (which lists our Kindergarten & new family welcome initiatives), publishing a Sneak-a-Peek checklist, and maintaining an FAQ document on our website.
• Family-School Partnership Award of Excellence -- Sharing Power, which is given to the local PTA unit that best represents the National PTA Standard of "Sharing Power" in the school. With this award, we were recognized for directing our fundraising efforts to needs identified by the school (last year, recess bags; this year, technology & shade structures) and for working with school administrators to keep Enrichment Clubs available during construction.
• Best Ideas Award, for several submissions:
  • The Venn Diagram showing the relationships between KSE's 3 school support organizations: PTA, Foundation, and School Council. Devyn Baklini, a Foundation board member, had the initial idea for the diagram and it was fleshed out in a collaborative effort by our Foundation, PTA, and Council. The graphic was brought to life by KSE parent and PTA sponsor Nate Wilson (https://www.nventcreative.com/). It has been adopted by the Cobb Foundation for use district-wide.
  • Buckets for Buses -- after the PTA Exec Board learned that our bus drivers were buying their own cleaning supplies, we provided each driver with a monogrammed bucket filled with tissues, hand sanitizer, Lysol spray, and other essentials.
  • The Celebration of Excellence Pep Rally, to celebrate our recognition as a National PTA School of Excellence and to kick off KSE's pursuit of AdvancED STEM Certification. As a surprise during the pep rally, we gave each student a t-shirt in their individual size & house color.
  • Recess Bags filled with gear like playground balls, soccer balls, jump ropes, and cones, for our students to use during outside recess time.
  • The printed monthly calendars that go home with students at the beginning of every month. These calendars are designed to list as many KSE events as possible. They are compiled & drafted by a PTA Exec Board member and are copied & distributed by PTA volunteers each month.
• Membership Challenge Award, for growing our membership from last year.

In addition to these awards for our PTA, our K-1 Nurse, Jennifer Hanlan, was recognized as the Outstanding School Nurse! Congratulations, Nurse Jen, and thank you for taking such good care of our youngest students. We love having you as part of the KSE community.

District 9 also awarded Achievement Awards to leaders in the education community, and Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale received the PTA Lifetime Achievement Award. During his acceptance speech, he praised PTA for all the work we do supporting our schools and thanked PTA for our advocacy efforts at the local level. 

Georgia PTA President-Elect, Karen Hallacy, addressed the group as well. She emphasized that next year, Georgia PTA's #1 priority will be supporting PTA units at the local level.

As we wrap up this school year and begin looking toward 2019-2020, the KSE PTA is committed to providing our students & families with the best possible experience during their time at King Springs.  We are thrilled to be recognized for our efforts to promote family engagement, and we hope that all of our parents, grandparents, and school supporters will be active members of the PTA next year!