Calhoun City’s Michele

Members in the News Calhoun City’s Michele taylor a National Finalist for Superintendent of the Year

Dr. Michele Taylor of Calhoun City Schools in northwest Georgia is one of four finalists for the 2014 National Superintendent of the Year. In December, Taylor was named the 2014 Georgia Superintendent of the Year by the Georgia School Superintendents Association. The three other finalists for the Georgia honor were Buster Evans of Forsyth County Schools, Phillip Lanoue of Clarke County and Matt Arthur of Rabun County.

The winner of the national competition will be announced during the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education to be held Feb. 13-15 in Nashville, Tenn. The other three national finalists are from Florida, Maryland and Texas.

Under Taylor’s guidance, over the past six years, the Calhoun City Schools system has experienced increased academic achievement. At 94 percent, the system has the third highest graduation rate in Georgia. It was 67 percent in 2003. The system was also among the first to earn SACS District Accreditation as System Charter status.

Calhoun, like other systems throughout the state, has experienced an unprecedented loss of state funding in recent years, but it has gained strong financial footing. The system had the fifth lowest per-student expenditure in Georgia last year.

“Dr. Taylor has built a strong leadership team trained on how to maximize funding to support student learning,” said Calhoun City Schools Board Chair Amy Atkinson.

a practical DreaMer

Taylor dreams big dreams and then finds ways to make those dreams a reality. In 2013 she and her team opened the new 170,000-squareAt 94 percent, the system has the third foot Calhoun High School physical plant after an arduhighest graduation rate in Georgia. It was ous campaign to secure funding and earn state approval to 67 percent in 2003. keep the high school in its existing location. An adjacent middle school complex is under construction. The multiphase project was financed by a sales tax referendum that Taylor helped sell.

The system also just launched an online learning academy for students in grades 6–12.

Over the past six years, Calhoun City Schools has earned numerous region and state academic, arts and athletic competitions. All schools have earned Distinguished Title I Schools recognition, a National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Award, Governor’s Platinum Awards and AP Honor and Merit School awards. Calhoun High School has been named to U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Schools” list for the past five years. Taylor credits the community for believing in and supporting the local schools, as evidenced by the 100 percent participation rate for recent parentteacher conferences. She also credits the students. When her selection as a finalist required her to submit supporting documentation, she turned to the high school’s broadcast video department. The professionalism of the students was striking. “They even had me bring several changes of clothing as we traveled to each filming location,” Taylor told Chattanooga’s Times Free Press newspaper. “That’s how detailed and organized they were.”

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hoMetown proDuct Michele Williams Taylor is a hometown product. She is a graduate of Calhoun High School and a former classroom teacher and principal. Her career is laden with awards. She was Teacher of the Year in 1996 and was Gordon County’s Young Careerist of the Year in 1997. She earned the Distinguished Kiwanis President Award in 2003 and received an Educational Celebrity Award from Georgia’s Leadership Institute for School Improvement in 2004.

“Her energy and enthusiasm seem limitless and infectious,” said Atkinson said. “She makes learning personal by getting to know the students by name and sending encouraging notes to recognize their achievements.”

A member of Alpha Delta Kappa, Taylor has served in leadership roles with Georgia’s Leadership Institute for School Improvement, the State School Superintendent’s Advisory Council, the local chamber of commerce, Kiwanis Club, United Way, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the arts council. She currently chairs the steering committee of Leadership Calhoun/Gordon County, is on the steering committee of Georgia’s Visioning Project and serves on the PAGE Foundation board of trustees. This year, she will chair Northwest Georgia RESA’s Board of Control.

Taylor and her husband Joe have two children, Joseph and Anna, who are both students at Calhoun Middle School. n