Matt Wark, Chief Facilities Officer for Forsyth County Schools, joins Katie Jubenville to share his unconventional path from a struggling student written off by his own guidance counselor to leading facilities for one of Georgia's fastest-growing, top-performing school districts. Matt discusses how his personal journey through teaching, administration, and district leadership shapes his "houses, not buildings" philosophy of facilities management, and dives into how Forsyth balances explosive growth with maintenance, community trust, and cost. He also shares his perspective as president of the Georgia 4LE chapter on building stronger partnerships between school districts and industry vendors statewide.
Takeaways:
- A rough start built a mission — Written off as a student, Matt now champions paths for every kid, not just test scores.
- Facilities are "houses," not buildings — Treating schools like home builds pride for students and staff alike.
- Growth means balance — Forsyth is shifting from new construction to upgrading older schools' infrastructure.
- Patience over quick fixes — Matt's top advice: slow down, since fast decisions create new problems.
- Partnerships over contracts — As Georgia 4LE president, Matt connects districts and vendors through trust, not transactions.
About Matt Wark:
He is currently the Chief Facilities Officer for Forsyth County Schools.
He is married to Sara Wark who works in Atlanta at the Coca Cola headquarters and they have 4 children (Mason, Riley, Jordan and Bailey) ages 13,11,10,8.
He is originally from southwest Michigan where he grew up on a family-owned farm.
He moved to Georgia in 2003 and became a teacher with Fulton County Schools. He taught 2nd grade and 5th grade including special education. He then moved to Clarke County Schools to become an assistant principal. There met his wife and relocated back to north Georgia and was an assistant principal with Dawson County Schools. While working in Dawson County he was promoted to the position of Principal. After 5 years of working in Dawson County he was called to become the Director of Assessment and Accountability with Baldwin County School District in Milledgeville, Ga. After 2 years in Baldwin County, he was promoted to Deputy Superintendent. As his family grew and his wife continued traveling to Atlanta daily, he decided to move back to the Atlanta area and what better place than north Ga. Matt successfully became the Chief Facilities Officer for Forsyth County Schools and also lives in Forsyth County where all 4 of his children attend Forsyth County Schools.
In Matt's current role, he oversees all maintenance and facilities needs for the district. This includes all new construction, renovations, modifications, general maintenance, custodial, grounds maintenance as well as, all future planning for the school district. Currently Matt oversees over 9 million square feet which includes 53 total buildings with more schools to come in the near future. Forsyth County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state of Georgia and has no signs of slowing down.
Episode 350 of the Better Learning Podcast
For more information on our partners:
Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) - https://www.a4le.org/
Education Leaders' Organization - https://www.ed-leaders.org/
Second Class Foundation - https://secondclassfoundation.org/
EDmarket - https://www.edmarket.org/
Catapult @ Penn GSE - https://catapult.gse.upenn.edu/
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