Two Dougherty County School System Schools have been awarded Level I Certification in the state’s High Reliability Schools program, according to the Governor’s Office of School Achievement.

Alice Coachman Elementary School and Morningside Elementary School met all of the requirements to earn certification as having a “Safe and Collaborative Culture,” which is the first in a five-level program designed to improve school culture, operations and student achievement and progress. Northside Elementary is also working on the designation and is expected to receive certification by the end of the summer.

Alice Coachman Principal Melissa Brubaker and Morningside Principal Dr. Christine Ford, accepted the certification on behalf of their schools at the GOSA’s Governor’s School Leadership Academy recently.

“Congratulations to Melissa Brubaker and Christine Ford. We are proud of your efforts to ensure your schools became level 1 certified High Reliability Schools. Great work occurring in Dougherty County, GA,” Facilitator Cameron Rains tweeted.

To earn certification, the schools had to address eight leading indicators that included:

• faculty and staff perceive the school environment as safe and orderly.   

• students, parents, and the community perceive the school environment as safe and orderly.   

• teachers have formal roles in the decision-making process regarding school initiatives

“We couldn’t be more proud of the employees and administrators at Alice Coachman and Morningside and Northside for embracing this component of the Turnaround work and obtaining this certification,” Dr. Paulette Hart, Associate Superintendent for District Effectiveness, said. “Completing the process and continuing to embrace these evidence-based practices will fundamentally change the learning landscape at these schools and we’re grateful for the collaboration and support that we’ve received from our partners at the state level in the process.”