Located in metro Atlanta, the largest diverse school system in Georgia, Gwinnett County Public Schools enrolled 178,000 students in 2015-16. Committed to world-class standards, Gwinnett implemented Reading Recovery in 1994 and today serves students in all 80 elementary schools. Throughout 20 years, this program has trained one or two training classes every year to yield more than 300 trained Reading Recovery teachers. Many have gone on to serve in state, county, and local school leadership roles. Gwinnett’s Reading Recovery teachers successfully changed the trajectory of progress for 13,000 students including many who have received reading and writing honor awards in subsequent years. These teachers serve 8 to 16 Reading Recovery students a year and an average of 81 non-Reading Recovery students across grade levels throughout their school days.

GCPS presented a budget that includes hiring 25 Reading Recovery teachers for the 2017-18 school year. CEO/Superintendent, J. Alvin Wilbanks, said the budget is an investment portfolio for the students.

Mr. Wilbanks was recently awarded the Excellence in Literacy Leadership Award, presented by the Reading Recovery Teacher Leaders at the 2017 National Conference in Columbus, Ohio.