Message From Our Principal

Dear Starling Families,

Welcome to the 2023-2024  school year as we partner with you to learn, lead, and support our students' academic, social, and emotional growth.  

Our theme this year is, "Racing To Excellence," based on NASCAR. Last year, we were building up a collaborative approach to excellence. This year, we intend to move forward to train, prepare and lead with intentionality. We have welcomed another cohort of talented and caring new staff who have joined with our returning staff to make a huge difference in our school culture and experience for all. 

As a school community, we know that we are stronger and better when we work together to help our students learn and become great leaders and citizens. This year we will collaborate on each grade level and across the school to make instructional decisions that will have the greatest impact for our students. We are also working together to ensure that all our students feel a sense of belonging, significance, and joy at our school. We are excited and thrilled to implement social emotional strategies that help our children feel connected and knowledgeable of ways to anchor their feelings throughout the day. This pathway will allow them to be more prepared for learning.

At Starling, we work as a team to ensure that we meet our mission “ to cultivate a community of lifelong learners by empowering students to achieve excellence while utilizing diverse experiences."​ We are excited to partner with you, our families, because we know how essential that relationship is in providing a positive school experience for our students. Our greatest hope is that your children come home each day excited about school and that they feel loved and appreciated. 

This year we will continue our work in providing learning opportunities that not only teach the standards, but also connect to the real world while preparing our students for college and careers. We are looking forward to strengthening our work in the community as it relates to our AKS so that our children see how their learning matters and how they can make a difference. We will help our students build their communication skills through reading, writing, listening, and collaborating. We also want to develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. We want them to walk out of our school, becoming excellent readers and thinkers who can conquer any subject with success. 

Our Grayson community continues to expand and grow. More houses, apartments and townhouses are being built, which has made our school environment grow as well. We are watching classroom class sizes and will be working to ensure that our school is conducive to learning. At this time, due to our expanding size, Starling is not slated as a permissive school. We appreciate that so many parents want to send their children to Starling, however due to growth, we will have to refrain from permissive transfers. Thank you for understanding. 

We hope you will stay connected and truly feel a part of our school community. There are multiple ways you can stay informed: our website, our Facebook page, Parent Square and of course, my weekly newsletter, The Principal's Desk.  All communication from the school will come via Parent Square or be posted on our website and/or Facebook page. We also have amazing support from our PTA. I encourage you to become a member and volunteer to stay connected. We are always looking for business partners, so please let us know if you are able to support our community. 

At Starling, where excellence IS the expectation, we will always thrive to please. However, if at any time we have fallen short of that, please connect with me if you ever have a question or a concern, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at crystal.cooper@gcpsk12.org and/or at 678-344-6100. 

Yours in leadership,
Dr. Crystal Cooper
Starling ES Principal