Leadership development is a critical factor for any successful organization. A school system just like Dalton Public Schools is no exception. For many years, prospective teachers who lead had a desire to go into administration have participated in a number of professional development programs. This year as part of the strategic plan, Dalton Public Schools launched a program called Emerging Leaders, focusing on assistant principals and teachers who aspire to learn about district leadership.

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club members from Morris Innovative High School recently competed in the FBLA Region Leadership Conference. The competition took place on January 8, at Ringgold High School. More than 30 schools competed at this event.

Two Dalton schools have been categorized as "Beating the Odds" by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) and two more were within one point of that designation. Eight of the nine schools in the district were either categorized as "Beating the Odds" or Within Expected Range.

Andrea Velasquez, a junior at Morris Innovative High School, recently won first place in a local amateur photography contest.

Rodney Gipson, a music technology teacher at Morris Innovative High School, was recently awarded a Dalton Education Foundation grant to purchase new sound equipment for his classroom. His goal is to teach students how sounds move in music.

Despite graduating in May 2019, Leydi Ballesteros, Morris Innovative High School alumna, continues to spend her Fridays giving back as a volunteer with the school's Translation Academy.

Miguel Gonzalez was selected as the Northwest Georgia 2019 Mentor Teacher of the Year by Georgia's P-20 Collaborative. Gonzalez, who teaches English in the Newcomer Academy at Morris Innovative High School, was selected for this honor for his work with Dalton State's English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher candidates over the years, as well as his mentorship of his current student teacher.

The CCRPI (College and Career Ready Performance Index) scorecards were released today by the Georgia Department of Education and Dalton Public Schools received their highest district score ever on the state's accountability measure. The district score for 2019 is 77.8, up 3.3 points from 2018 and above the state average of 75.9.

Students from the Translation Academy at Morris Innovative High School won the 2019 Live to Give Video Challenge.