About

Superintendent

In his 31st year in education, Dr. Terry Oatts is in his seventh year as Superintendent of Rockdale County Public Schools. Prior to his tenure as Superintendent, Dr. Oatts served successfully as Assistant Superintendent of Student Achievement in Fayette County Public Schools from 2014-2018.

Dr. Oatts, a 2016 graduate of the American Association of School Administrators’ (AASA) inaugural cohort of the National Aspiring Superintendents Academy in Alexandria, Virginia and a participant in Harvard Graduate School of Education’s 2017 National Institute for Urban School Leaders in Cambridge, Massachusetts, previously served on the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) National Advisory Board. Dr. Oatts is also a 2014 graduate of the Georgia School Superintendents Association’s (GSSA) District Office Professional Development Program, and he is also a 2019 graduate of GSSA’s 13th Cohort of the Superintendent Professional Development Program (SPDP). Dr. Oatts previously served as District 12 Director for the Georgia Association of Curriculum and Instructional Supervisors (GACIS) having represented the eight Griffin RESA districts.

Dr. Oatts currently serves on numerous advisory committees including the Conyers Rockdale Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors, GSBA Superintendents’ Advisory Council, the Metro RESA Board of Control where he previously served as Past Chair and Vice-Chair, a member of the Georgia Cognia (formerly AdvancED) State Advisory Committee, and a member of the Georgia Southern University College of Education Advisory Board.

Prior to his district office tenure, Dr. Oatts spent the better part of a decade as a Title I elementary school Principal, middle school Principal, and high school Principal in neighboring Henry County. During his principal tenure, Dr. Oatts received many accolades including but not limited to his elementary school being recognized as a Distinguished Title I School, establishing the first high school credit-bearing world language middle grades program, increasing his graduation rate by nearly 10 points in two years, and obtaining U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools (Bronze) and Washington Post Most Challenging High Schools recognition.

Prior to his principal tenure, Dr. Oatts spent nearly seven years as a high school assistant principal in Glynn and Gwinnett Counties at a non-Title and Title I high school respectively. Prior to his administrative tenure, Dr. Oatts spent five years as an elementary special education teacher-assistant, middle school counselor, and Title I elementary school counselor. From 1997-2018, Dr. Oatts taught graduate studies within the College of Education at both traditional and proprietary institutions of higher learning across the state including his alma mater, Georgia Southern University, and at Troy University, Argosy University, Mercer University, and Piedmont University.

In his seventh year as Superintendent of Rockdale County Public Schools, Dr. Oatts and RCPS have amassed many notable achievements. Those achievements include but are not limited to increased graduation rates, accelerated Advanced Placement (AP) achievement, a resurgence of students identified as AP Scholars, all three high schools having been recognized as AP Honor Schools, a record number of Governor’s Honors program (GHP) nominees and semifinalists named, rising gifted student eligibility and enrollment, and no schools identified on the federally designated list of schools targeted for improvement.

Additionally, RCPS has seen gains on state assessments and exceeded both the region and the state on multiple Georgia Milestones Assessments, increased career pathway enrollment, increased career pathway course offerings, increased career pathway completion, increased enrollment in Work-based learning and Youth Apprenticeship programs, and increased End-of-Pathway Assessment achievement. Importantly, RCPS has seen steady gains in its CTAE Graduation Rate with our current rate being the highest ever at 99.36%.

Dr. Oatts holds a B.S. degree in Communication Arts and three graduate degrees in education all from Georgia Southern University. His doctoral degree is in Curriculum Studies with an emphasis in Educational Leadership. Dr. Oatts is married to a middle grades administrator, and they have a high school-aged son – Landon – and two young adult children, Teryn, a student at Georgia State University, and Dorren, a graduate of Georgia Southern University.

Links

Board Agenda & Policies

Board Goals

Georgia School Superintendents Association

RCPS Strategic Plan

RCPS Superintendent Evaluation Instrument (PDF) (RTF)

RCPS Superintendent Contract (PDF)

(770) 860-4211

Name	Position	Business Phone
Dr. Terry Oatts	Superintendent	(770) 860-4211
Esther Maclin	Executive Assistant	(770) 860-4211

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