Meet Franchesca Warren, a veteran educator, Fulton County Schools parent and founder of the fast-growing group South Fulton Parents for Education.
Q1: What is your vision for education in the South Fulton community?
A1: As a parent of four children who attend/ed Fulton County Schools, my vision for education for South Fulton is a thriving center of the community where there are high-performing elementary, middle, and high schools where teachers love to teach and students and parents love to attend. This goes beyond a CCRPI score, it is a feeling where students go to school and want to learn, educators feel appreciated, and families feel supported as partners in education. To get those things, we have to disrupt what we’ve always done so that we can do what we have to do for children. To read more, click here.
In this essay, Fulton parent Franchesca Warren, a former teacher, instructional coach, and district leader with a master’s in instruction and curriculum, talks about the response parents would like from the board. Warren operates The Educator's Room, a popular national blog and podcast dedicated to empowering teachers.Warren also founded the Facebook group South Fulton Parents for Education, which has become a forum for parents across the county to share concerns.By Franchesca WarrenAs a child growing up, my mother had many rules, but the one I have found essential as an adult is when you know you’re wrong, apologize and make amends. As a mother to four children, it’s something I find myself doing continually as I prepare my own kids for the real world. This belief in admitting mistakes and making amends is something the Fulton County Board of Education doesn’t seem to grasp. To read more.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
These words from South African leader Nelson Mandela ring true to me as a former teacher and as a parent of four children who have or will attend Fulton County schools. As a parent, I envision an education system where students are able to bloom into successful and capable adults after being in schools that meet their social, emotional and physical needs.
Ever since my oldest son was in kindergarten, I’ve been an involved parent. I’ve attended PTA meetings, chaperoned field trips, volunteered in the classroom, joined the School Governance Council and raised money for our schools -- because that’s the model of what involved parents should do. To read more, click here.
What standards do you feel like you need to meet—however time-intensive or unreasonable—to be considered a "good teacher"?
This was the question Alexis Shepard, a 4th grade teacher in Oconee County, S.C., posed to participants in her workshop at the Teacher Self-Care Conference, held at Samuel M. Inman Middle School in Atlanta this past weekend.
Shepard, who blogs and offers consulting services through her side business, The AfroEducator, wanted the teachers to examine the norms they upheld that could lead to burnout. She directed them to a web link where they could anonymously type responses, and projected the list onto a smart board at the front of the classroom. To read more, click here.
Longtime school board member Linda Bryant will not seek re-election. Two South Fulton residents will make a run to take her place. Franchesca Warren, veteran educator and founder of South Fulton Parents for Schools, has qualified to run. Attorney and longtime PTA leader Willie Davis has also stepped up. They’ll face Palmetto’s Sandra Wright who is also seeking the seat. To read more, click here.