Congratulations to Principal Donna Solomon on her receipt of the Katherine Foss Education Award presented at the Chamber of Commerce’s awards banquet.
Mrs. Solomon was nominated for the honor by teacher Heather Boggs, who was on hand at today’s festivities to present the award. She is pictured (right) with Mrs. Solomon.
Mrs. Boggs’ nomination application follows:
“Let me introduce Principal Donna Solomon to you. Mrs. Solomon is the principal of Ruskin Elementary School. She has also served as Vice Principal at Williams Heights Elementary and as a Ware County classroom teacher. She has a nursing background and is a Veteran of our Armed Forces. Not one to let grass grow under her feet, she entered Education as a second career. She began by teaching and then entered into Leadership after earning her Education Specialist degree. As the Instructional Leader of Ruskin Elementary, she fosters the success of all students by facilitating the development, communication, implementation, and evaluation of a shared vision of teaching and learning that has led to our school's improvement. If you call Ruskin looking for her, don't expect a quick answer. She is apt to be teaching a group, outside with her spray can and giant paw stencil painting Jaguar paws in the driving lanes, mopping the hallway, in a curriculum meeting, corralling a snake out of the building (you read that right), analyzing mountains of data, in a parent meeting, celebrating a student victory or helping a misdirected student develop a thought process that will lead to improved decision making. To summarize her activities as an educator, there is simply nothing she has not done or will not do.
“Mrs. Solomon has untold talents that remind me of putting a drop of food coloring into a glass of water. You can just watch that one small drop quietly integrate itself into the entire jar forever changing the entities within. She is unquestionably (and not just by title) the leader of Ruskin Elementary. She is our Instructional leader and I list specific data below that will factually describe her academic influence. She is our school climate leader and has changed the tone of our school. I believe our teacher retention rate is as high has it has ever been due to the positive environment she facilitates. As our Planning and Assessment Leader, her organizational skills are unparalleled. She anticipates and/or responds to what is needed and fills that need. Most recently she secured the Professional Development "Get Your Teach On" to motivate the staff with positivity and fresh ideas. Mrs. Solomon is the epitome of professionalism and has led the staff through some sometimes uncomfortable changes in order to raise the level of professionalism. Principal Solomon's fingerprint is on everything in this school, both literally and figuratively. Like that drop of food coloring, Mrs. Solomon's influence has touched everything from Ruskin's academics, to parent communication, making mundane meetings tolerable with her wicked sense of humor, to teacher retention, to the cleanliness of the building, to possessing the prowess for placing the right professional in the right position. Her influence permeates every aspect of our school equally impacting faculty, staff and students.
“‘You will be known by the tracks you leave.’ That is the Native American Proverb with which Mrs. Solomon closes every email that she sends. It is also the attitude that she consistently displays and her chosen proverb perfectly represents her leadership style. She is calm, level-headed, pithy, equitable, exudes such a sense of conviviality and is a model of the behaviors that she expects from both students and staff. I wish that I was able to include a photograph that I discreetly snapped of Mrs. Solomon on what happened to be Super Hero Day. She was with a group of students that needed to be, shall we say, behaviorally redirected. The students in need were on a sidewalk and Mrs. Solomon herself was redelivering PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Support) expectations...all while in her red sneakers and Super Hero cape. She didn't pass the redirection needs to classroom teachers, she saw the problem and met personally with that group of needy students. On the flip side of that, when she knew [I was facing a challenge in my personal life], she came to my classroom one morning and shut the door. She wanted to know [how things were going] and how she could help me as our family was dealing with some real life issues. I felt seen. I felt connected to her as person to person and not just boss to subordinate. And, I know for a fact, that her compassion isn't limited to me. Mrs. Solomon's consistent ability to meet the academic, physical, behavioral and emotional needs of the Ruskin Elementary staff and students is inimitable.
“It would be challenging to find another leader who has had to be as innovative or overcome more than Principal Solomon. She is the leader of a 100% free lunch, Title 1 school. Ruskin consistently has more DFACS referrals than any other elementary school in the county. In the past couple of years, we have had at least four different Vice Principals.....that translates to everything landing on her shoulders as there has been inconsistency in the role of her intended assistant. She has managed to run Ruskin Elementary while not even having a full staff. If you look at the Ware County Schools job vacancy listings, you'll see Ruskin currently has several open teaching positions as there simply aren't people to hire. Yet, with administrative turn-overs, pandemic caused student learning losses, and vacant teaching positions in what should be viewed as the most challenging elementary school in Ware County, in the past year, Mrs. Solomon has gotten our school off of the TSI (Targeted Support and Improvement) list. Also, College And Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) Component Ratings were recently released. Ruskin's 2022 scores are above the Ware County School District's Mastery Overall Average - 60.6/59.5 - and the State Readiness Overall Average - 72.2/ 71.8. Data is factual and in our economically disadvantaged school, Mrs. Solomon is winning the war. It seems someone has forgotten to tell her that she shouldn't be able to do what she is doing. Remember that Super Hero cape I mentioned in an earlier question? Principal Donna Solomon has earned the right to wear that cape and I truly believe Mrs. Foss would agree. I hope you will join me in celebrating a Super Hero whose superpower is changing lives through the power of education.”
We wholeheartedly agree with Mrs. Boggs’ assessment and express our sincere congratulations to this very deserving and special leader in the Ware County School System! 
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