It is an honor to serve the White Oak community as Principal for the 23-24 school year.  White Oak Elementary is a small, neighborhood school with a family feel.   White Oak started as a one room schoolhouse in the early 1900’s.  There has been a long history of community support for our school that continues to this day.  We are proud of the supportive relationships White Oak  has with leaders from the City of Sugar Hill and many nonprofit organizations in the community.  These partnerships provide unique opportunities for the students and families that call White Oak home. 

At White Oak Elementary, our mission is to facilitate a safe and supportive environment where excellence in learning for all children results in students who are thinkers, learners and leaders. This year we will focus on five critical areas from Our Blueprint for the Future as we strive to help each and every student reach their full potential.  

1. Empathy: 1.B Staff and Student Well-Being - We will provide opportunities during the instructional day focused on intentional, well-established enrichment (Clubs for All and STEM) as well as social emotional learning (SEL).  Students will learn about the impact of our standards in our community through strategic partnerships with the City of Sugar Hill and Lanier Cluster.
2. Equity: 2.A - Multi-tiered System of Supports - We will provide instruction, screening and intervention for all students that includes targeted small groups, grade-level curriculum, ongoing formative assessments, as well as build capacity to support school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS), SEL competencies through Character Strong, an attendance campaign, and our school counseling program.
3. Equity: 2.B - Opportunity and Access - We will continue our robust STEM instruction that includes quarterly project based learning opportunities centered around the schoolwide driving question, “How can our school garden help us learn about the world around us while connecting with our community?” We will increase enrichment opportunities through Clubs for All, Peer Leaders, 3D design and printing, robotics, broadcast, and video production.
4. Effectiveness: 3.B - Talent Management - We will continue to implement opportunities for our staff to learn and grow through leadership development, collaboration, peer coaching, and our new teacher mentorship program.
5. Excellence: 4.C - World-Class Communication and Engagement - We will launch a social media campaign to increase engagement with our families and our community.  We will implement a new communication platform called Parent Square to improve and streamline our communication channels. We will have a new Parent Liaison whose job is to support and engage families.

As principal of White Oak Elementary, I’m excited to help students LEARN what it takes to be productive and successful members of society, LEAD others with compassion and empathy, and SUCCEED in whatever future endeavors they choose to pursue.

Thank you for choosing White Oak Elementary.  We are proud to be a part of the Lanier Cluster and Sugar Hill, Georgia!

Sincerely,

Stacey Pickett