Putnam City Schools Set Theme To Kick Off A Successful School Year

At Ralph Downs Elementary School, every new year brings a new goal.

"I think the most important part of schools today especially, is to offer belonging with staff and students and creating a sense of community," said Ralph Downs Elementary principal, Holly Pollock.

The school creates a unified theme to do this.

"It brings a sense of togetherness and something that we can have a common goal," said Pollock.

Communications Director AJ Graffeo says it's hard to have a commonality between all 27 Putnam City Schools. To change this Graffeo created a new mission statement for PCS.

"We're really challenging our teachers and staff to really think about what their impact is," said Greffeo "and how that can trickle down and really impact the future for our students."

The mission statement is, every beat counts.

"You may be an Appolo Eagle or you may be a Putnam City West Patriot, but everybody is focusing on every beat counts'" said Graffeo.

A district-wide convocation kicks off the new year and that call to action is already trickling down.

"It's the first year that I've ever remembered, that we have collaboratively done a theme together," said Pollock.

PCS hopes to see a rise in school pride with this initiative, in turn, improving their school's environment and student performance.