Courtesy reminders are automatically generated by the Atlanta Public Schools Certification Department, notifying employees of expiring certifications and/or endorsements throughout the current fiscal year with the first notice issued after the first 20 days. This notice is sent to all APS employees who have any educator certificate/endorsement expiring at the end of the current school year on June 30^th. Failure to renew your certification may result in contract non-renewal if that valid certification is required for your position. If you are not seeking to renew your expiring certificate/endorsement area, you may ignore such notifications.

Once you have already met all of your requirements, please allow 2-4 weeks processing time to process your renewal application.

If you are not on track to complete your requirements for renewal, please reach out to the Staffing Director or Staffing Specialist assigned to your school/Cluster immediately.

Certification renewal begins on December 1^st when the GaPSC begins accepting and processing expiring certificate renewals. Once your renewal requirements have been met, APS will apply for the renewal of your expiring certificate. After your requirements for certification renewal have been met, please allow 2-4 weeks for processing, and monitor your MyPSC account for updates.

Complete your requirements for renewal by February 18^th to ensure that your application is submitted to GaPSC by March 15th. After this date, contracted employees may experience significant delays in receiving their next employment contract.

Please be mindful that our department is processing many renewal applications during this timeframe. Delays in processing applications may be caused by pending fingerprinting results, pending verification of professional learning from your supervisor, and/or outstanding/incomplete GaPSC requirements.

Professional Learning Verification is mandatory for all certified employees to ensure the completion of professional learning, according to GaPSC requirements. Full-time Atlanta Public School employees are evaluated by the Teacher Keys Effectiveness Systems (TKES), LKES, SKES, and EPAT. Professional Learning Goals are connected to every active employee’s satisfactory Performance Evaluation, which will satisfy Professional Learning. Any PLU credits completed and achieved outside of APS should be uploaded to the educator’s ELiS platform using the transcript outlining the course(s) completed and PLU credits earned for evaluation and review.

   If you separate from the district before your renewal is completed, you will be expected to provide  

  documentation of 100 clock hours or 10 PLUs within your 5-year renewal certification validity window (Effective- 

  Expiration Date). 10 clock hours = 1 PLU, so if you have over 100 clock hours, within your 5-year window, you  

  will also satisfy the requirement. Educators must submit their Professional Learning Unit transcripts to APS           

  Certification Department at certification@atlanta.k12.ga.us to be uploaded to GaPSC. Your learning credit hours  

                 may be accessed on your KickUp account (for APS-lead training) or from the organization in which you received         

                 your professional learning.

• Log into your MyPSC and complete your Personal Affirmation Questions (PAQs) for the current school year.
• New Fingerprints/Background Checks must be submitted on or after July 1 of the current renewal year.  
• Verify Professional Learning Units (10PLU’s or 100 Clock Hours) for the school years of the certificate validity and expiration period.

The Retired Educator certificate is a renewable certificate that allows retired Georgia educators to maintain certification for the purposes of substitute teaching or other educational activities for which GaPSC educator certification is not required but may be desirable.

Retired Educator certificate holders may not serve in any position requiring GaPSC educator certification. Retired educators who are hired in positions requiring certification must meet requirements to renew their expired professional certificates.

To apply for a Retiree certificate:  

• Log into your MyPSC account and complete the Online Application
• Contact Teacher Retirement System (TRS) to request a retirement verification letter
• Pay $20 processing fee via your MyPSC account