Berkeley Lake Elementary School
Principal: Ashley Coughlin
4300 S. Berkeley Lake Road, Duluth, GA 30096
School Highlights
The following school highlights showcase how Berkeley Lake Elementary School is fulfilling Gwinnett County Public School's four strategic priorities of Empathy, Equity, Effectiveness, and Excellence. Visit the School Profile Dashboard to find more detailed data on our school.
- Berkeley Lake Elementary School (BLES) is a "No Place for Hate" school. Students engage in lessons throughout the year and participate in three school-wide projects.
- Berkeley Lake is a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) school. PBIS encourages positive behaviors with recognition for students who exhibit appropriate school conduct. Our schoolwide expectations included being safe, respectful, and responsible.
- Literacy continued to be a focus for all students. All classrooms implemented the structured literacy model. The GCPS Book Mobile also visited the school, and all students picked a new book to take home. We celebrated literacy with Book Character Day, March Madness Book Edition, and Literacy Night.
- During the 24-25 school year, BLES focused on student and staff well-being by implementing schoolwide restorative practices and community circles and targeted small group support by our school counselors.
- This year, BLES increased opportunities for family engagement. School-sponsored family engagement nights included Curriculum Night, Literacy Night, STEM Night, International Night, and Family Fun Night. Additionally, BLES offered multiple family workshops and classes, including Weekly English Classes, a cluster Internet Safety workshop at DMS, a Sixth Grade Transition workshop, a Kindergarten Transition workshop, and a Multilingual Learner family workshop.
- The Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) sponsored in-house field trips for all grade levels. Additionally, they hosted October's Bear Scare event, the February Family Dance, and BINGO Night. The PTO also partnered with the school for the annual Candlelight Luncheon and the 5th-grade celebration and ceremonies.
- BLES increased the extracurricular opportunities for students by offering new clubs including Robotics for K-1 and 2-3, Multicultural Club, and Art Club. Additional extracurricular opportunities included Student Council, Chorus, Chess Club, Dance Club, Green Team, K-Kids, IT Girls, Reading Club, Club Invention, Click-Create Club, and Robotics Team for 4-5.
- BLES increased opportunities for two-way communication and feedback for stakeholders during the 24-25 school year. Families attended Town Hall meetings held after school every 9 weeks and BLES staff participated a Faculty Feedback Forum four times during the school year. Both forums focused on feedback aligned to our school goals and current happenings.
- BLES partnered with the Gwinnett Master Gardeners and received a grant to upgrade our pollinator gardens. During the spring semester, staff, community volunteers and Duluth High School students spent a Saturday morning updating the gardens for the 25-26 school year. Students use the gardens to experience authentic learning opportunities that are aligned with our science AKS.
- Children, ages birth to 5 years, from our school's surrounding community are offered the opportunity to participate in our Play 2 Learn program. Classes are offered twice a week.