The Georgia Department of Education is welcoming 53 schools to Year 2 of The GRE4T Initiative: Georgia's Pathway to Personalized Learning. Fifteen of those are part of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School District, including two that are pilot schools from Year 1 of the initiative.

GRE4T is an $18.5 million federal grant to expand virtual and personalized learning in the state. “This three-year grant will ensure long-term vision, leadership, and success using research-informed strategies for personalized learning," said Dr. Caitlin McMunn Dooley, GaDOE's Deputy Superintendent of Teaching & Learning. The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) is set to reimagine education and improve student achievement across all sub-groups with the GRE4T Initiative: Georgia's ReStart: Embrace, Engage, Expand, and Enhance Learning with Technology Initiative. Outcomes of the GRE4T (pronounced GREAT) Initiative will demonstrate educator, student, and parent satisfaction with personalized learning approaches, improvement in student attendance rates in face-to-face and online learning opportunities, and equitable student growth over a three-year period beginning SY 20.21.

“In Georgia, we are committed to building a more personalized and connected educational system, and continuing to leverage virtual learning more effectively, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and long-term," State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “These funds will help us build that system and expand personalized learning opportunities for our students."

Georgia's schools will use GRE4T funding to improve the professional learning available to leaders and educators on personalized learning, expand student connectivity, and improve the infrastructure of – and expand access to – the Georgia Virtual School (GaVS). The initiative supports new, innovative ways to access education with an emphasis on meeting students' needs during the coronavirus national emergency.