C. Lindsay Linsky
Parsons Elementary School
Gwinnett County, Georgia
C. Lindsay Linsky, Parent
Transparency through Turbulence
I am extremely impressed with how my son and daughter’s elementary school has handled all the COVID changes over the past seven months. The Parsons principal, Dr. Laura Clark, was appointed to the role at the start of the 2019-20 school year after serving several years as Assistant Principal. Even though she is new to the role, however, she showed incredible leadership during the height of uncertainty in the shutdown. What I appreciated most was her incredible transparency. She kept all parents extremely well informed at every turn of the pandemic with videos from her office explaining the challenges the district was grappling with and the WHY behind every decision. The reasons behind the school/county’s decisions helped us understand and accept the changes while adjusting more smoothly.
What’s more, Gwinnett County has been extremely sympathetic to working families and accommodating for parental preferences offering distance/in-person choices. The steps they have taken to decrease the risk of spread are extensive. I grew up in Atlanta, so I know families in almost every county in the metro area as well as many of the private schools. When I hear what other counties are doing for their back-to-school plans, I am so glad my children are in Gwinnett. The quality of their education has remained high with incredibly innovative use of collaboratively created assignments in Google Tools and other online resources while still having the benefit of safe and in-person education.
My son is in kindergarten and my daughter is in 3rd grade at Parsons. Although I know their teachers are stretched VERY thin, they have managed to remain upbeat while juggling live-streamed distance learners with the in-person group as well. We had parent teacher conferences last week, and I feel very happy with the progress my children are making and I am thankful for their teachers.
I interact with a lot of schools in my job, so I know good teaching and excellent school leadership when I see it. I think Parsons Elementary would be an excellent choice for any awards you may be offering in response to this challenging season.
