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Mark your calendars! The 2024 Celebration of Excellence will be held on March 14 to honor our Teachers of the Year, Parent/Guardian Leaders, and Partners in Education.

For questions, please contact Hannah Samples

The event for 2023-24 retirees will be held at The FoCAL Center, 1150 Dahlonega Highway, Cumming on May 9, 2024 at 6PM. Forsyth County Retired Educators Association is the sponsor. 

• Click here to view the 22-23 list of retirees!
• Click here to watch the 22-23 Retirement Ceremony
• Click here to view the Simple Booth photos

Past Retiree Lists

• 2021-22 Second Semester Retirees
• 2021-22 First Semester Retirees
• 2020-21 Retirees
• 2019-20 Retirees
• 2018-19 Retirees
• 2017-18 Retirees
• 2016-17 Retirees

• Grand Openings
• Groundbreakings
• Time Capsules
• Topping-Outs

The 2025 FCS District spelling bee was held on Wednesday January 15, 2025 at The FoCAL Center. The winner from each elementary and middle school participated in the bee. Congratulations to all participants! After 22 rounds of spelling, Vikram Venkiteswaran from Otwell MS was named the champion after correctly spelling “vignette”. The top five winners from the FCS spelling bee will participate in the GAE Region spelling bee in February, and the sixth-place winner serves as the alternate. Great job and congratulations to all participants and winners!

Click here for the 2025 FCS Spelling Bee program and list of participants

Congratulations to the 2025 FCS Spelling Bee Winners!

• Champion: Vikram Venkiteswaran, Otwell MS
• First Runner Up: Ayush Agarwal, DeSana MS
• Second Runner Up: Aarna Addicam, Hendricks MS
• Third Runner Up: Guhan Ganta, Brandywine ES
• Fourth Runner Up: Ronit Rajpurohit, Riverwatch MS
• Fifth Runner Up/Alternate: Abhisatvika Bellamkonda, Shiloh Point ES

2025 Spelling Bee Winners pictured from left to right:

Abhisatvika Bellamkonda, Aarna Addicam, Ronit Rajpurohit, Vikram Venkiteswaran, Ayush Agarwal, Guhan Ganta

• Get social with #ForsythSpellingBee

Please click here to be redirected to this years State of the Schools event page!

ARK 180 Project: Acts of ROUTINE Kindness

#ARK180Project for the 1st Semester of 23-24: Start and end your school week with artwork from Kelly Mill ES students, inspired by quotes of kindness. Tuesday -Thursday we will make daily social media kindness posts, featuring excerpts from the Choose Kind Journal, by R.J. Palacio.

2023 First Semester ARK post schedule

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At the beginning of the 22-23 school year, FCS classrooms received one yellow ARK, representing ALL in Forsyth County sailing in the same boat. The goal of this project is to turn kindness into a daily ROUTINE habit, thus changing the lives of both the person giving and receiving.

FCS posted daily kindness messages on district social media accounts (1 day before school starts, 1 day after school ends, and the 178 days in between). Schools were encouraged to share kindness messages daily with students and staff and to post photos on social media using #ARK180Project

• August
• September
• October
• November
• December
• January
• February
• March
• April
• May

Forsyth County Schools (FCS) offers three passes:

These passes include half-price admission for one to FCS home athletic events, musicals, plays, band concerts, and other special school-sponsored activities. Half-price admission does not extend to play-off games, graduation or PTO/A sponsored events. With the exception of the substitute passes, they are reusable each year.  

Passes are issued at the Forsyth County Board of Education/Professional Development Center at 1120 Dahlonega Highway, Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Driver’s License and/or verification of military service are required.

*Prior to 2019, these passes were known as Golden Passes. The former design/pass is still accepted.

Note: Events produced by The FoCAL Center will not be honored by the passes.

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Contact: Robyn Gravitt

The substitute pass is valid for the current school year and will be renewed if you remain an active substitute teacher. This pass is offered through the Human Resources department.

 Bonds: 1992, 1995, 1999, 2005 (88%), 2014 (64%) and 2018 (67%)

SPLOST: 1997*, 2001 (73%), 2006* (73%), 2011 (80%), 2016 (63%), and 2021 (69%)

*Bonds issued 

Please note that the Forsyth County government and the City of Cumming taxes and SPLOST/Bond Referendums are not related to the school system, each is a separate government entity. Forsyth County Schools' referendums are for schools, not for roads or stoplights. School SPLOST and Bond funds may not be used for operational costs, such as personnel.  

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Contact: Michele Dugan

• Audit Reports
• FCS Financial Overview
• Monthly Financial Reports 
  1. Go to Meetings, Board of Education
  2. Select a date for a Regular Board Meeting
  3. On the agenda, select Finance Report.  
• 2021 SPLOST Information
• 2018 Bond: 6 Minute Video, Two-Page Infographic Flyer, and Project List for Existing Schools/Facilities

Forsyth County Schools’ School Food and Nutrition Services Department is a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is responsible for providing a safety net for Americans who are food-insecure and for developing and promoting dietary guidance based on scientific evidence. As a federal program, when a student has an unpaid meal balance that has surpassed a specific threshold, they receive an alternate meal, such as a cheese sandwich.

Dining with Dignity is a program that ensures donations are placed in the school’s cafeteria house account to provide students with a meal of their choice instead of a cheese sandwich. At the end of the school year, the funds in the house account will be used to pay negative balances on student accounts. Any funds remaining in the house account will roll over to the next school year to assist additional students.

Please note that if you are interested in “paying off a school’s lunch debt”, these figures change daily. Many of these debts are rightfully incurred by a parent/guardian and are settled by the end of the school year. When a school's lunch debt is paid off prior to the end of the school year, many times the children in need quickly reach the charge limit again, thus receiving a cheese sandwich. Providing a donation so that students don't receive a cheese sandwich instead of paying off the lunch debt allows the student to dine with dignity with a meal of their choice.

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To make your tax-deductible donation to the Dining with Dignity program:

Thank you for your generous support of our students! For additional information contact Hannah Samples.

• Visit forsyth.k12.ga.us/edfoundation, select DONATE NOW and in the “Add special instructions to the seller” line write Dining with Dignity and the name of the school.
• Mail/deliver your check or money order to the Forsyth County Education Foundation, 1120 Dahlonega Highway, Cumming, GA 30040. In the subject line please write Dining with Dignity and the name of the school.

• Duck Dive
• School Grants and #FoundationFriYAY
• Dr. Jim and Peggie Morrow iChallenge (Staff Scholarships)
• Student Scholarships

Thank you to our 2024 Title Sponsor, Georgia United Credit Union

#FCSPrincipal4Day

Overview

The Principal for a Day program is coordinated in partnership with the Forsyth County Chamber.  Participation in the program is open to Chamber Board members and their businesses. Use #fcsprincipal4day for social media posts.  Principal for a Day was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the inability to have visitors in schools because of COVID-19, but we restarted the program in fall 2022.  

Click here for a list of all businesses that have participated each year.

2024 Highlights

FCS is thrilled to have "principals for a day" for all of Forsyth County's schools for November 2024, the eleventh year of the program! These business and community leaders spent a half day working alongside a Forsyth County Schools principal and will never look at the principal's job (or maybe their own!) in quite the same way. They will experience amazing leaders, outstanding teachers, eager students, precious faces...the sights and sounds of quality teaching and learning...a chance to walk in the shoes of one of the most important jobs in America.

• Watch videos of #LoveFCSPrincipals! 
• Thank You 2024 Participants!

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Contact: Hannah Samples

• Holocaust Remembrance
• FoCAL Donors
• The Penguin Project

Congratulations 2024-25 REACH Scholars!

REACH Georgia is the State of Georgia’s mentorship and college scholarship program, launched in 2012 as a key component of the state’s Complete College Georgia Initiative. REACH (Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen) is Georgia’s mission to ensure Georgia’s academically promising students have the academic, social, and financial support needed to graduate from high school, access college, and achieve postsecondary success. Currently, in all 180 school systems throughout the state, REACH serves more than 4,300 students throughout Georgia.

REACH Georgia is administered by the Georgia Student Finance Authority (GSFA), a companion student finance entity of the Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC). GSFC is the state agency that administers the HOPE Scholarship and Grant Program as well as other state- and lottery-funded financial aid programs. GSFC also manages the career and college preparation website, GAfutures.org and provides educational services such as free financial aid consultation and FAFSA completion assistance to high schools and postsecondary institutions across the state.

REACH Scholar recipients must sign a contract committing to maintaining strong grades, remain drug and alcohol-free, meet with their REACH mentor regularly, maintain good attendance and behavior, develop educational and career plans and graduate from high school. School Counselors recommend students for the REACH Program each fall, followed by an interview process conducted by local business and community leaders. 

FCS has signed REACH scholars each year since 2014 and has 5 cohorts that have graduated high school and are currently utilizing this scholarship in college.  Congratulations to all REACH scholars! 

The success of our REACH program would not be possible without our sponsors! Thank you to the REACH sponsors: Tommy and Chantal Bagwell Family Foundation, Browns Bridge Church, The DeSana Fund, Net Wealth Management, Jeremy Echuck and The Knight Family! We are very grateful for their continued support.  

For more information about the REACH program in FCS, please contact Hannah Samples.

Click here for more information about REACH Georgia.

#FCSTOTY #FCSTeacherTuesday

 

Click here for the 2024-25 Teacher of the Year Timeline.

Congratulations 2024 FCS Teacher of the Year- Dawn James from Lakeside MS!

 
 

Thank you to Andean Chevrolet for their donation of a car lease to our District TOTY and all businesses who donated gifts to all of our TOTY! 

2023-24 School-Level Teachers of the Year

Eligibility Requirements for Teacher of the Year:

Classroom teachers in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 are eligible for FCS' TOTY. This includes special education, physical education, art and music teachers, ROTC and media specialists. Counselors and speech pathologists are not eligible for the state or national TOTY programs, but they are recognized in separate programs. Candidates for the FCS TOTY should have three or more years of experience, have a full-time teaching position and spend the majority (defined as spending at least 50% of contract time) of their time teaching students in a classroom setting. Supervisory and administrative responsibilities should be of secondary consideration. Click here for all Georgia Teacher of the Year guidelines.

Candidates for Forsyth County's Teacher of the Year program should be an exceptionally dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled teacher who:

Past District Teachers of the Year

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Contact: Hannah Samples

Sample

• plans to continue in active teaching status 
• inspires students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn
• possesses the respect and admiration of students, parents, and colleagues 
• plays an active and useful role in the community as well as in the school; and 

• is poised and articulate