HCS Superintendent Showcases Districtwide Bright Spots in ‘State of Our Schools’ Address

HENRY COUNTY, GA – Henry County Schools Superintendent Dr. John Pace III delivered his first “State of Our Schools” address at the McDonough Performing Arts Center on Aug. 26.

Attendees included Board of Education Chair Sophe Pope (Dist. 4), Board Vice Chair Annette Edwards (Dist. 2), board member Jennifer Carter (Dist. 3), district leaders, HCS principals, educators, students, and parents.

Civic and business leaders, including Henry County Board of Commissioners Chair Carlotta Harrell, Board of Commissioners Vice Chair Neat Robinson (Dist. 2), Commissioner Michael T. Price (Dist. 4). Locust Grove Mayor Carlos Greer, Henry County Development Authority Executive Director Sharon Hill, Henry County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Joseph B. Henning, and Henry County Public Schools Foundation Board of Trustees President Holly Cobb, were also in attendance.

Dr. Pace’s address came just a week shy of completing his first year as superintendent of HCS on Sept. 3. He highlighted the district’s commitment to student success across a range of priorities, including academic, instructional, and operational excellence, supportive, safe, and secure learning environments, and family and community engagement.

High-Performance Culture

Superintendent Pace emphasized the board’s core beliefs reflected in a range of student and staff outcomes.

“Our vision is simple yet profound, Dr. Pace said. “We believe every student should have access to a high-quality, world-class education. We believe each student can learn at or above grade level and will have an equal opportunity to do so. This isn't just a goal. It’s a core belief—one we are working hard every day to make a reality.”

The Georgia Department of Education’s recently released Georgia Milestones Assessment results revealed districtwide growth, with HCS schools showing increases in 20 out of 27 key metrics. HCS also outpaced the state in 17 of the 27 Georgia Milestones metrics, and the percentage of students reading at grade level increased in six of seven tested grades.

“This year’s scores tell a story of acceleration and impact across HCS,” Dr. Pace stated. “Our students are not just growing, but they are growing faster than the state average. This progress isn’t just in the numbers or the data; it’s the story behind the data—the individual stories of students who are achieving exceptional success.”

The accomplishments further underscore the impact of board investments under the current 2021-2026 Community-Inspired Strategic Plan to enhance teaching and learning across HCS.

The district’s literacy growth reflects the board’s Strategic Action 1 goal to develop a community of powerful readers and writers and promote the essential role literacy plays in ensuring future success. Targeted campaigns, including HenryReads, have inspired successful collaborations with community and HCS leaders who participate in district and national reading events throughout the year.

Partnerships with the Henry County Library System, the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation, and Atlanta radio personality Greg Street have enabled HCS students to benefit from several literacy-focused events, including Street’s Read-A-Thon, held last school year at the Henry County Schools Welcome Center.

Dr. Pace shared upcoming initiatives designed to inspire a love for reading, such as reading challenges in which students can earn prizes for demonstrating commitment, growth, and excellence in literacy.

“Literacy is the key to unlocking our students’ potential,” Dr. Pace stated. “We have a WIG, a wildly important goal, of at least 80% of our students reading at grade level by 2029. It is ‘wildly important’ because when we achieve it, it will lead to gains in all other subjects.”

To support his message about the power of literacy and promote the impact of strong literacy skills, Dr. Pace welcomed Woodland High School senior Jada Ellis to recite her award-winning poem “Fatherless Echoes.” Ellis outperformed more than 260 students to win the 2025 Georgia Poet Laureate’s Prize.

Dr. Pace highlighted other examples of excellence in teaching and learning across the district, including:

• Ola High School’s decorated Team 5203G, whose members capped their HCS experience by outperforming more than 800 teams to earn the 2025 VEX World Championship Excellence Award in May. The team’s successful 13-year run reflects the board’s efforts to establish a robust STEM curriculum across the district.
   
• Austin Road Middle School student Elijah Atkins is another example of outcomes of the district’s STEM focus. Earlier this year, Atkins emerged as Henry County’s first winner of the Georgia Model Water Tower Competition.
   
• Student success directly aligns with teacher and leader STEM competencies, and HCS boasts nationally ranked and recognized STEM-qualified personnel. Among them are Dr. Sadereka Evans, science department chair at Hampton High School, who was among seven teachers nationwide to receive the 2025 Shell Urban Science Educators Development Award, and HCS Director of STEM and Innovative Practice Dr. Jamal Hafza, who was named one of the nation’s Top 10 STEM Directors in Education for 2024.
   
• Ola Middle School student Stella Harp placed first in Georgia’s National History Day competition and second overall in the National Contest held recently in College Park, Maryland. Harp was the only student from Georgia to place in the top three in any of the competition categories. Additionally, Woodland Middle School student Brody Cunningham, who earned second place in the state competition, placed sixth at the National Contest, where he won the Outstanding Affiliate Award for the Best Junior Individual Project from Georgia.
   
• HCS students have made the district proud through numerous instances of excellence in the fine arts. Recently, New Hope Elementary School’s Junior Beta Club placed third in the nation for their performance of “Peter Pan” at this summer’s national convention.
   
• HCS band and choir programs frequently receive invitations to perform at some of the world's most renowned venues and events, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the D-Day Memorial Parade in Normandy, France, and the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade in Hawaii.

In a demonstration of exceptional musical talent, HCS students delivered masterful performances throughout the evening. Dutchtown Middle School students performed a brass duet, Ola High School students performed a guitar ensemble, and Woodland High School students performed a violin duet, entertaining the audience with concert-quality recitals.

The board’s work to nurture well-rounded students relies on attracting, retaining, and providing professional development opportunities to ensure highly qualified instruction is a reality in every classroom.

HCS’ dedication to student success is evident in efforts that begin with its Early Learning program, which prepares the district’s youngest learners for Kindergarten, and extend to its Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) pathways, geared toward preparing students for college, career, and life.

The district’s CTAE program is a success story, boasting the fifth-largest CTAE enrollment in Georgia, largely due to innovative curricula at the district’s high schools and Academy for Advanced Studies. CTAE graduation rate for the Class of 2024 was 98.9%, and its overall four-year graduation rate was 86.8%, surpassing the state average.

Performance gains in various programs and subject areas are the result of intentional board initiatives, including its promise of highly effective instruction.

“Our belief that effective teachers and leaders produce excellent results is validated by the fact that Henry County Schools is the only district in Georgia to have employees recognized for both the state’s highest honor for teachers and the highest honor for staff,” Dr. Pace added.

Dr. Pace introduced McDonough High School Director of Choral and Piano Studies Brandi Neal, who has represented HCS with distinction. Neal was named HCS 2024 Teacher of the Year and was a top 10 finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year.

Neal shared her experience with the district’s leadership ASPIRE (Additional Support Professionals Inspired to Reach Excellence) program, and the resulting opportunities and access, including serving on the Georgia Teacher of the Year Association and providing professional learning to teachers across the state.

“Henry County Schools has shown the world that every teacher, in every role, has the potential to grow, to serve, and to lead,” Neal said. “And that when we invest in educators, we don’t just shape classrooms—we shape communities.”

HCS is building a pipeline of educators like Neal, who inspire students to realize their full potential and recognize that their overall well-being is vital to their academic performance.

Holistic Learning

HCS originated the role of Mental Health and Wellness Facilitator in 2021 in response to students’ need for additional layers of support due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ESSER funds allotted in 2021 enabled the district to provide Mental Health and Wellness Facilitators in every school. Their impact prompted the board to continue funding the role beyond the conclusion of ESSER funds to benefit students and staff.

Mental Health and Wellness Facilitators lead CARE (Caring Adults Responding Everyday) teams comprised of counselors, social workers, and other teacher-leaders, who enhance teaching and learning by addressing attendance and academic challenges and nurturing the overall well-being of students and staff.

Dr. Pace introduced East Lake Elementary School Mental Health and Wellness Facilitator Marga Kirschner, who provided powerful examples of the difference CARE teams make each day.

Kirschner was the district’s 2023 Educational Support Person for the Year and a 2024 Georgia RISE Award winner.

The district’s holistic approach to learning considers all factors that impact student success. Dr. Pace highlighted noteworthy initiatives and investments in operational and support structures as follows:

• Welcome Center: Henry County families can benefit from additional support through the district’s Welcome Center, which provides a wide range of outreach services, including language support, health and immunization services, adult learning opportunities, and family engagement opportunities.
   
• Safety and Security: The board continues to prioritize safety across the district, investing approximately $30 million in a range of security measures since 2018. These include increased cameras in schools and buses, weapons detection systems, and other technologies such as a campus alert system and access control cards. In partnership with the Henry County Police Department, HCS has a unit of 39 school resource officers.
   
• Transportation: HCS completed construction on its 32,770-square-foot, state-of-the-art transportation facility in May. Transportation Facility - West will enable the district to streamline operations for its total fleet of 325 buses, which transported more than 20,000 students over a total of 1.9 million miles during the last school year.
   
• Growth and Expansion:
   
  • Birch Creek Elementary, which opened in fall 2024, will serve as the prototype for the construction of Wolf Creek Elementary, scheduled to open in August 2027 to account for growth in the Locust Grove Cluster. The school will feature a dedicated STEM lab, outdoor classroom, and a new front entrance design to improve traffic flow.
     
  • Similar growth trends have led to additions to Dutchtown Middle School, Ola Middle School, Union Grove Middle School, Locust Grove High School, and Ola High School, which will complete E-SPLOST VI classroom projects by 2028.
     
  • The district’s Henry County STEM High School will open in August 2027 and offer specialized tracks in aerospace engineering, biotechnology, and sustainability and green energy.

Complementing board investments in teaching and learning was the realization of another key Strategic Plan goal—the launch of the Henry County Public Schools Foundation in February.

The Foundation realized early success through various giving opportunities, including its inaugural “Stuff the Bus” campaign, which invited the community to donate school supplies for new HCS teachers, and its 100-day “Give First” campaign, inviting the community to be among the first to support public education in Henry County.  

Partners in Education

HCS prioritizes community collaborations and welcomes partnerships with residents, businesses, and civic organizations as integral to the district’s success.

Partners such as the Henry County Chamber of Commerce have inspired initiatives such as the county’s inaugural Civics Bee, held last school year, and upcoming opportunities through the Foundational Leadership and Entrepreneur Experience (FLEX) program for high school students to get involved in entrepreneurship.

HCS provides many avenues for engagement, including its Community Leadership Academy, launched in fall 2023. “Community Cluster Conversations” have been a cornerstone of the district’s Strategic Plan goals, providing a forum for the community to articulate their hopes, dreams, and aspirations for public education in Henry County.

HCS will host another round of cluster conversations, starting Sept. 4, inviting community input and support for the next five years of initiatives to guide its 2026-2031 Strategic Plan and Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST) VII referendum.

Enabling Bright Futures

A notable highlight from the superintendent’s address was a video featuring testimonials from current HCS teachers and staff, Houston Texans 2023 Defensive Rookie of the Year Will Anderson Jr., and PBK Architects Job Captain Sarah Shepherd—all of whom are former HCS students.

Shepherd, in fact, played a pivotal role in the design of Henry County STEM High School.

The district welcomed the 2025-2026 school year under the theme, “Bright Futures Begin in Henry County Schools,” signaling a commitment to preparing every student for success in and beyond HCS.  

Dr. Pace’s “State of Our Schools” address highlighted the power of public education, and more specifically, the value of an HCS education. His presentation effectively demonstrated how the district’s initiatives, beginning as early as PreK, offer every HCS student an opportunity to succeed, even on the largest stages.

Watch Henry County Schools’ 2025 “State of Our Schools” Program.