As 2024 comes to a close, area school systems and private schools shared their accomplishments of the year, as well as what educators have in store for 2025.
Gainesville City Schools, Hall County Schools, Lanier Christian Academy and Lakeview Academy each saw growth in their respective facilities, student achievement and more.
Gainesville City Schools
Gainesville City Schools Superintendent Jeremy Williams shared with AccessWDUN that a primary focus for the school system for the last semester and moving into the new year has been school safety. The district carries a four prong approach to school safety, which includes integrating technology, collaborating with law enforcement and working with mental health professionals.
Williams explained the first prong approach to security is a software that detects any potential threats that may be posted online, such as threats to harm oneself or others and cyber bullying. The software allows school officials to investigate incidents that may originate online early and find preventative solutions. Williams said the district also integrates technology into its safety plan through its Centegix Alert System.
“We've had that system since 2020 and just continue to upgrade as needed over the years, and everybody's become very accustomed to that,” Williams said. “It allows us to respond to incidents in a very timely manner, but also know who has pressed the response button and where that person is located so it can be investigated.’’
Gainesville City Schools also collaborates with the Gainesville Police Department to have four School resource officers, a weapons detection K-9 and a drug detection K-9. The system also retains an armed guard on each campus, which was integrated in 2022.
“Between those 16 individuals, they work to keep our campuses safe,” Williams said. “When you come up on any of our campuses, you'll see somebody in a uniform with a gun, just letting people know we want you to know that this is an environment that we're going to do whatever we can to keep our kids safe while also being able to keep track of what's going on around the area.”
The system's collaboration with GPD also includes access to the department’s mental health clinician, who works alongside the system’s six school clinicians to provide mental health services to students.
Aside from the systems’ safety initiatives, Williams said in 2024 Gainesville saw growth in literacy among its elementary and middle school students. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade, including in subgroups such as those in special education and English as a second language programs, reached 89% of all state targets during the 2023-2024 school year. Williams said this is in part due to its Bookworms program, which aims to provide feedback to students and encourage growth in their literacy skills.
At the high school level, Williams shared that Gainesville’s Horizon Academy has also been successful. The program, which serves new students learning English for the first time, was adopted by the school system last school year, but in 2024 was given its own building on Washington St. The program also works with students who are more than a year behind in academic credit.
“[Horizon Academy] aims to tailor instruction and learning support for our students,” Williams explained. “...The newcomers will spend a year to two years at Horizon, then they will go to Gainesville High School, and then the students that are in Grad Lab, they're already more than a year behind, so they will likely finish at Horizon.”
In 2024, 80 of 88 students enrolled in the program were able to graduate on time, according to Williams.
The school system also saw updates to its City Park Stadium. The roughly $13 million project included a new press box, additional seating, and updates to the stadium’s restrooms and concession facilities.
“At City Park, when you drive by, it's just been a staple of our community for a very long time,” Williams said. “And one of the things that we wanted to accomplish when we renovated City Park was still keeping a community feel. Now, when you go, of course, drive by, or you go on site, the press box, the new bleachers and everything is very impressive and big, but the game itself still feels like a game felt [years] ago.”
Hall County Schools
The Hall County School District also saw developments to its facilities in 2024, including with the opening of Sandra Dunagan Deal Elementary School, which combined White Sulphur and Riverbend Elementary Schools.
Director of Communications and Athletics for Hall County Schools Stan Lewis shared updates as the district now prepares to merge McEver Arts Academy and Oakwood Elementary Schools to form Everwood Elementary School in 2025.
“Construction has gone really well, ahead of schedule.” Lewis said. “ …As far as branding goes, we've got a mascot that will be the Everwood owls, as in the bird, the owl. And we have decided to take the red from McEver and the blue from Oakwood to use in the branding.”
Lewis also said parent committees from both schools have collaborated with Hall County Director of Elementary School Education Matt Alexander, to find ways to bring the two communities together ahead of the merge.
Other pre-existing buildings in the district have also received updates. Most recently, the district completed a project to add a second story to Lyman Hall Elementary School, which also included a new learning commons. Construction is also underway at North Hall High School to add a three story classroom building to its campus. Lewis said the addition will make class changes at the school safer for students.
“Anybody who's been [to North Hall] knows that during class changes, students have to walk outside,” Lewis explained. “What this construction will do is it will connect the existing building to the new building, and we won't have students traversing outside as much as we had in the past.”
The project also will also bring a new auxiliary gym to the campus, as well as renovations to the building’s restrooms. A similar project is also planned for Johnson High School, which will add a three story building, new auxiliary gym, and renovations to the school’s learning commons. Both projects are expected to be complete for the 2024-2025 school year.
The district will also expand its Ivester Early College Program in 2025, after the Ivester Foundation donated $1 million to convert the former While Sulfur Elementary School into a second campus for the program.
In addition to new facilities in 2024, Lewis also highlighted that the district’s graduation rates for 2024 sat at 86.9%, which were slightly above the state average of 85.4% for the same year.
“Some of our subgroups, like our economically disadvantaged students, our Hispanic students, they posted averages that exceeded state averages for those subgroups,” Lewis shared. “That being said, we also know that we've got some gaps to close for our black students, our English language learners and our students with disabilities, but we're convinced that all of our students are capable of learning and growing, and we're committed to putting in the work to make sure that that happens.”
Lanier Christian Academy
Lanier Christian Academy is currently preparing to move students into its newly constructed campus on Chestnut Mountain Circle in Flowery Branch.
The three-story building will hold elementary and middle school students for the new semester in 2025.
LCA Executive Director Al Gainey shared that the new facility is designed not only for growth, but to maintain both academic models that the school offers.
"In 2016 we brought two schools together, a five day model and a three day model,” Gainey explained. “ We still have both of those models on this campus, so we've got students coming five days a week and some students coming three days a week, and it's about evenly split… this building is designed exactly for that.”
Elementary students will occupy the first floor of the building while middle school classes will be held on the second floor. Meanwhile, high school students will remain on LCA’s old campus at Chestnut Mountain Church until funds can be raised to complete the third story, where high school classes will be taught.
The 88 thousand square-foot building features a gym that will be used for high school games, a room for chapel services, as well as both an indoor and outdoor playground. The campus also sits on 34 acres, which Gainey said will be used to add additional space as needed. The campus has the capacity for up to 820 students.
Melissa Winfrey, LCA Middle School Principal, highlighted that as students prepare to enter a permanent space, the school is continuing to grow its programs.
“We're very proud of LCA s ability to meet academic needs as well as spiritual, social and athletic needs,” she said. “Our programs are growing. We have many, many sports offered here, our students are able to get 30 credit hours toward college through our dual enrollment and AP courses. In addition to that, we've also really developed our ministry opportunities here.”
LCA offers to its students a leadership program that partners with the Thumbs Up Ministry to raise money for families that have a member currently undergoing cancer treatment. Winfrey said in the last year students involved in that program were able to raise over $17,000 to sponsor families in need of the ministry’s services.
In 2024 LCA also received reaccreditation through the Association of Christian Schools International. Schools accredited through the association are required to renew accreditation every six years. LCA also has accreditation with University-Model Schools International, as well as Cognia.
As the school continues to support academic success, Winfrey said the school also aims to continue to guide their students spiritually and foster community.
“Our mission is to make disciples,” Winfrey said. “So for us, obviously, academically, we're wanting to grow those kids, but relationally, spiritually, that's equally as important to us as a Christian school. Not only develop that in them, but then as disciple makers, equipping them to pass that on to the younger students, their family members…All the teachers and staff, we’re actively involved. We have our parents and outside people that come in and take a small group, really, and meet with these kids on those Wednesdays and just invest in them.”
To learn more about or donate to LCA’s permanent building, click here.
Lakeview Academy
Meanwhile, at Lakeview Academy, school officials are also upgrading infrastructure with the construction of its $6.5 million fine arts facility set to open to students for the 2025-2026 school year.
Head of School John Simpson said the new facility, located between the Walters Athletic Center and the lower school gym, will replace a building that was previously torn down. However, Lakeview shared other updates to its facilities.
“We also renovated our lower school gym,” Simpson said. “We spent about $300,000 to renovate that. It has a beautiful floor, also brand new LED lights, freshly painted, six brand new goals that go down to eight feet for our junior leagues that we do for basketball. It also has a volleyball court there…It will be air conditioned and heated, and we're just ecstatic about that as well.”
Academically, LA has seen a positive response from its Keystone Program, a pilot program the school created in 2024 to aid elementary school students with dyslexia.
Assistant Head of School Wade Hanse explained the Keystone Program specifically works with students struggling in reading and math.
“We are excited that we are able to offer it for this particular area, and what it will do is provide small group instruction for no more than five students in a grade level in ELA and in the math class,” Hanse said. “It'll have Orton Gillingham instruction in the ELA, and then we have a multi sensory math approach in the math subject. Other than those two areas, they participate in everything else with their grade level peers, which is really kind of the best of both worlds.”
Lakeview plans to continue to grow the program in the coming year.
For upper level students, LA also received the gold recognition from the College Board for the number of students who passed an AP exam and received college credit for the course.
“Last year, we actually had 99 of roughly 180 students participate in at least one AP class last year, and we had an overall 75% pass rate,” Hanse said. “ But what I think is most impressive than that is that 12 of the 17 classes we offer had a 100% pass rate. The number of tests that we took overall were 185, so we had 185 overall tests that were taken, and 50% of our test takers received a four or higher on their AP test.”
AP exams are graded on a scale of one to five. In order to pass an exam, students must receive a score of three or more.
Lakeview Academy also expanded its Dual Enrollment program through a partnership with Brenau University. The partnership allows Lakeview teacher Marsha McFall to teach English 1101 and 1102 to students without leaving the campus.
“We are prioritizing dual enrollment, but we're doing it in a highly supportive way, making sure that it's with, it's in person, with our people, partnering with Brenau as much as we can,” Hanse explained. “ …the feedback that we're getting at Lakeview right now is that, because there is already a relationship in place, and we're focusing on in person, dual enrollment, and not online dual enrollment, that more students are able to take advantage of those opportunities here, that maybe that they may not have taken elsewhere.”
AccessWDUN is speaking with local officials across Northeast Georgia for a series of Year in Review stories to wrap up 2024. Stay tuned each day this week for new installments in this series.
