Hospital gives school $15,000

CUMMING - Northside Hospital-Forsyth has given a middle school in Cumming $15,000 to assist in the school library's book project.

The grant will allow Liberty Middle School to purchase more books for its media center.

Northside Hospital's Partners in Education (PIE) program has pledged to assist its surrounding communities' school systems with a goal of helping maintain the quality of education and resources for those schools.

All new schools must meet the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) standard by the end of their third year. In order for a school to meet SACS standards, they must maintain a minimum of 10 books per student in the media center. Nonfiction books and reference materials are rather expensive, and for the past two years Liberty Middle School, now in its third year, has made many tough purchasing decisions based on price and quantity rather than need.

According to Cindy Styles, principal of Liberty Middle School, because the school is still relatively new the media collection of books in the library is still limited.

"The school has reached its accreditation goal this past spring; however, we would like to expand our nonfiction collection," says Styles. "This wonderful grant will enable us to provide a quality media center that supports instruction in all academic areas. Northside Hospital-Forsyth is a great partner in education and we appreciate their support."

Paula Gault, superintendent of the Forsyth County School District, also is pleased with the new possibilities that this donation offers.

"We appreciate the incredible support Northside Hospital-Forsyth has given us," says Gault." As a result, Liberty Middle School's media collection will grow, giving more students access to quality literature and academic resources."

The mission of Northside Hospital's PIE program is to promote excellence in education by creating a progressive, cooperative community environment in which students, educators, parents and the business community work together to continuously improve the system of education in our community. Northside currently partners with 60 schools in Cherokee, Cobb, Dawson, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.