Macon Masters: Dr. Curtis Jones (Education)
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Macon Masters is a brand new flagship series of speakers featuring bold leaders in Central Georgia with the vision and experience to tackle today’s most vital questions. The Grand will bring people together under the same roof locally and virtually around the world, making the series accessible to all audiences in this vulnerable climate. A unique three part structure features a master talk, a Q&A with the speaker, and a connecting bridge to new neighbors and friends with a post-event chat.
Dr. Jones Brings Award-Winning Experience to Macon-Bibb Dr. Jones, a passionate educator dedicated to developing students as scholars, leaders and good citizens, joined the Bibb County School District in April 2015. Using his classroom and administrative experiences, Dr. Jones developed the Bibb County School District’s strategic plan, “Victory in Our Schools.” The strategic plan has five goal areas: increasing student achievement, increasing student and stakeholder engagement, increasing teacher and leader effectiveness, being a reliable organization, and learning and growth. This plan drives the district’s continuous improvement efforts through shared accountability for all stakeholders and resource alignment.
Dr. Jones works to ensure the district’s instructional practices meet the needs of students and prepares them to be college or career ready. Early on, he established one of the district’s main priorities as “getting students reading on grade level.” Through his guidance, district administrators have addressed equity issues by ensuring students have access to similar instructional practices, interventions and supports. Additionally, the development of a District Literacy Plan has led to student growth on the Georgia Milestones Assessments and an increase in the percentage of students reading on grade level.
When he joined the district, Dr. Jones set one of his first long-term goals as raising the district’s graduation rate to 90 percent by 2025. The district has made great gains in improving its graduation rate, which was 58.9 percent in 2014. The Class of 2019 had a graduation rate of 79.4 percent. Six of the district’s seven high schools had graduation rates greater than 80 percent in 2019, putting the district on track to achieving this goal.
Under his leadership, the Bibb County School District has been cited for its work to advance the district and its students. In 2017, the district received Georgia’s College Board Linking Award for having more than 80 percent of juniors and seniors utilizing Khan Academy for SAT preparation. The District also received the 2018 Digital School District Survey Award for Large Student Population Districts category, and its Board of Education has been twice-named a Distinguished Board by the Georgia School Boards Association. The district’s work with elementary schedules was featured in District Management Journal, in an article titled “Raising Achievement and Addressing Equity at Bibb County Schools” and the district was featured as a case study with K12 Insight for its work in improving stakeholder communications through its use of the Let’s Talk! platform.
Dr. Jones is an educator with more than 20 years of experience. He began his career in education as a JROTC instructor with the Griffin-Spalding County School System in Griffin. He became a high school principal and then advanced to assistant superintendent, then superintendent before coming to Bibb County. Before his educational career, Dr. Jones served in the United States Army, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and earned a doctorate degree in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University.
In December 2018, Dr. Jones was named 2019 Georgia Superintendent of the Year by the Georgia School Superintendents Association (GSSA). The award was presented during a luncheon at the 2018 Georgia School Boards Association/Georgia School Superintendents Association’s Winter Conference in Atlanta. Later that month, he was named one of four finalists for 2019 National Superintendent of the Year by The School Superintendents Association (AASA). In February 2019, at AASA’s National Conference on Education, Dr. Jones was named 2019 National Superintendent of the Year.
He is a past governing board member for The School Superintendents Association (AASA) and past president of the Georgia School Superintendents Association (GSSA). GSSA awarded him the President’s Award in 2012 and the Bill Barr Leadership Award in 2016. In October 2018, Dr. Jones received the AdvancED Excellence in Education Award for the state of Georgia for his role in leading efforts to improve student learning and outcomes.
Dr. Jones is engaged in numerous professional and community organizations. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Macon and the Kiwanis Club of Macon. He serves on several community boards including those for the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Central Georgia.
He is married to Evelyn, a retired elementary school principal. They have three children and are the proud grandparents of two granddaughters and a grandson.