Gwinnett Daily Post — December 25, 2016

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MERRY CHRISTMAS • HAPPY HANUKKAH

Gwinnett Daily Post SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2016

www.gwinnettdailypost.com

$2.00 ©2016 SCNI

Vol. 47, No. 60

GCPS reveals performance-based teacher pay scale BY KEITH FARNER

District officials reeffect in leased details and various the 2018scenarios based on gradu19 school ate degrees and years of year, A long-discussed experience in a rollout in though deperformance-based recent weeks with admintails about teacher salary pay scale, istrators and teachers. The that are a change from the current two-part plan will begin still being J. Alvin longevity-based model, in August, and the second discussed. Wilbanks is coming to Gwinnett section, which would give HowCounty Public Schools awards for top performever, those awards will next school year. ers, is expected to go into be based on four metrics: keith.farner @gwinnettdailypost.com

home for the

professional growth, Teacher Advancement Program evaluations, student growth and the weighted school assessment. “Moving the awards to phase two will provide us with more time and additional data, which will be important in determining that the systems and

metrics that will determine performanced-based awards are the right ones for our teachers,” CEO/ Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks said. The first changes offer a pay increase, and shift up the salary schedule scale, based on how teachers perform on evaluations and

BY CAILIN O’BRIEN cailin.obrien@gwinnettdailypost.com

Eagle’s Landing Cafe and Grill owners Judy and Randall Eagleson share a laugh in their recently re-opened restaurant on Wednesday. The couple rebuilt their restaurant from the ground up after it was heavily damaged in a fire just before Thanksgiving last year. (Staff Photos: Curt Yeomans)

Eagle’s Landing Cafe and Grill reopens after late 2015 fire BY CURT YEOMANS

Pam Underwood has lived in Gwinnett County for years, but the county feels a little more like home this Christmas and she has Randall and Judy Eagleson to thank for that. It’s not that Gwinnett hasn’t felt right to her in the past. It’s the fact that she’s missed one of her favorite local restaurants, Eagle’s Landing Cafe. She’d been a customer since it opened 11 years until it was severely years ago, and she and her daughter had breakfast there damaged in a fire just before Thanksgiving last year. every Saturday morning for

Diners chat at the rebuilt Eagle’s Landing Cafe and Grill. The restaurant reopened earlier this month after it was heavily damaged in a fire just before Thanksgiving last year.

But the Eaglesons, who own the restaurant, gave loyal customers, like Underwood,

an early Christmas present this month when they reopened their rebuilt-fromthe-ground-up eatery. And that sits right with Underwood, who was back at the restaurant at 3001 River Drive south of Lawrenceville, eating breakfast with her daughter on Wednesday. “I’m excited,” Underwood said. “I’ve been waiting for them to re-open for a year.” Eagle’s Landing re-opened its doors on Dec. 4, welcoming customers into a brand new facility. The restaurant’s owners said they’ve been See REOPENED, Page 9A

Grace Arbor Respite Ministry’s annual holiday luncheon Tuesday was an emotional one for Susan Palmer. Susan acts as primary caregiver for her husband Dave Palmer, who suffers from dementia and used to visit the ministry. His condition worsened recently. Susan needed to get him full-time care and his visits to Grace Arbor have stopped. But Susan’s connection to the ministry hasn’t. “I have so many wonderful memories,” she said. That may be because Grace Arbor, a ministry out of the First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville, is a pioneer in the art of providing a supportive environment for dementia patients and their caregivers. “What has been the most interesting thing is how we have multiplied,” said Robin Dill, the director of the respite ministry. Dill was hired to get Grace Arbor started in 2005, five years after the church decided it needed a day program to help care for some members suffering from dementia. She was a graduate from Clemson University who had studied animal sciences, but she didn’t hesitate over the decision to develop a respite. She had done some pastoral care at hospitals, but most her experience with dementia had been familial — she’d watched both her parents suffer from it. She’d also been a caregiver for her husband during his battle with cancer. “It was a personal and a professional draw for me,” Dill said. Grace Arbor was one of the first to take advantage of grants former Gov. Sonny Perdue set up around that time to See MINISTRY, Page 9A

Grace Arbor volunteers and participants serve themselves a covered luncheon Tuesday. (Staff Photo: Cailin O’Brien)

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FAN

HEART OF THE HAWKS PACK

PRESENTED BY:

See TEACHERS, Page 9A

Ministry offers aid in holidays and beyond

HOLIDAYS

curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com

classroom observations, for example, and not on their years of experience. Though during a months-long process that involved several layers of district personnel, advanced degrees still hold their value after the changes.

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