Title I and Family engagement

The Office of Strategy + Impact drives and coordinates key systems like strategic planning, strategy management, school governance, research, student engagement, partnerships & community affairs, and equity to advance Atlanta Public Schools' long-term goals for student achievement.  

We leverage processes, relationships, and capacity-building to ensure Atlanta Public Schools is creating a Community of Believers to Educate & Empower Atlanta's Students to Shape the Future.

STRATEGIC PLANNING

Strategic planning is the process of creating the district’s long‑term roadmap: setting student outcome goals and defining major priority areas and initiatives over several years. It typically involves broad stakeholder input, analysis of data and needs, and results in a written strategic plan that communicates goals, strategies, and success metrics for the entire district.  See Back to The Basics: 2030.

STRATEGY MANAGEMENT

Strategy management is the ongoing work of turning the strategic plan into action by coordinating initiatives, aligning resources, tracking performance, and adjusting strategies over time. While strategic planning produces “the plan,” strategy management builds and runs the systems—scorecards, routines, dashboards, and cross‑department collaboration—that ensure the plan is implemented and continuously improved.

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE (GO Teams)

School governance refers to the structures and processes through which decisions are made at the school level, including roles for principals, staff, families, and community members. In APS, GO Teams are local school governance bodies that help set and monitor the school’s strategic plan, approve the school budget, and recommend innovations, exercising school‑level decision‑making within the broader district framework.

RESEARCH

Through coordination of research and data requests, the team helps ensure that studies, program evaluations, and external research partnerships are aligned to district priorities and protect students and schools. These efforts give leaders evidence to refine strategies, address barriers to achievement, and monitor progress on key performance indicators in the strategic plan.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Student engagement efforts are designed to cultivate a districtwide culture in which students are recognized as active partners and leaders in their learning and in district decision-making. From identifying needs and priorities, to co-designing solutions, to providing feedback on implementation and impact, students are invited to share their voice. Through structured avenues for student voice, including districtwide student surveys and formal advisory and leadership bodies such as school-based Student Government Associations (SGA), and district-level groups such as the Student Advisory Council (SAC) and the Middle School Leadership Alliance (MSLA), and through monthly Office Hours with the Superintendent, students offer meaningful input that informs district planning and continuous improvement. Insights gathered through these groups are directly connected to work around school climate, instructional practices, and student supports, ensuring that student perspectives shape policies, programs, and systems that influence academic success and overall student experience.

PARTNERSHIPS + DEVELOPMENT

In coordination with the Atlanta Partners for Education, the Partnerships + Development team cultivates and manages relationships with community, business, philanthropic, and civic partners to align external resources with school and student needs. By coordinating these partnerships at the district level, the office helps ensure support is equitable, strategic, and tied to the student achievement goals in the APS strategic plan.

EQUITY & SOCIAL JUSTICE

Equity and Social Justice work in APS includes implementing the district’s equity policy, collecting and analyzing equity-focused data, and addressing disparities in areas such as discipline, access to rigorous courses, and student belonging. This function centers historically underserved students in decision-making so that every strategy—whether in planning, governance, or partnerships—contributes to fair opportunities and better outcomes for all APS students.