Saluting Gwinnett’s local Teachers of the Year!

The first step of the district’s search for its 2018-19 Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) Teacher of the Year (TOTY) is complete and 137 local school Teachers of the Year have been designated as tops in their schools.

“GCPS teachers of the year represent the quality of professional educators across our district and in every school,” says Dr. Jonathan Patterson, Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Support. “These teachers exemplify our mission to pursue excellence in academic knowledge, skills, and behavior for each student. Their expertise and reputation reflect the expectations of the Gwinnett community. We also congratulate their principals and other staff who work side by side with these teachers every day to ensure a high-quality public education.”

Every year, the school system honors the passion and commitment of its teachers during the annual Teacher of the Year recognition process that takes place during the fall. These 137 local school honorees will move into the next phase of the TOTY process as they are considered for the systemwide honor. Later this month, this group will be narrowed down to 25 semifinalists. From that group, six finalists will be chosen in mid-October. The annual Teacher of the Year banquet and the announcement of this year’s top teacher in Gwinnett County will be held on Thursday, November 8, 2018.

Here’s an overview of the selection process:

Step 1 — All teachers at each participating Gwinnett school nominate and vote for their local school Teacher of the Year.
Step 2 — The applications for all 137 school-level Teachers of the Year are screened and 25 semifinalists for the county-level are selected.
Step 3 — The 25 semifinalists’ applications are scored to determine the six finalists.
Step 4 — A selection committee— made up of teachers, central office personnel, and administrators— visits the classrooms of the six finalists and conducts thorough interviews with each educator. The committee looks for original teaching methods, studies the educator’s teaching philosophy, considers the influence the teacher has had on the teaching practices of his/her colleagues, and reviews any special class projects the teacher has initiated.
Step 5 — From the six finalists, the committee will select a Teacher of the Year for each level— elementary, middle, and high. One of the level winners will be recognized as GCPS’ 2018-19 Teacher of the Year.

2018-19 Local Teachers of the Year

NOTE: New Life Academy of Excellence and North Metro Academy of Performing Arts are not participating this year.