What changes are coming to metro Atlanta schools this year?

Schools in several districts are implementing new policies to limit cellphone use by students in class. In many cases, students will be required to store their phones in pouches during the day. These changes are happening in some schools in districts including Atlanta, Cherokee County, Decatur, DeKalb County and Marietta.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Yondr

Photo credit: Courtesy of Yondr

Security measures

The DeKalb County School Board voted in early July to pay $1.65 million to install a weapons detection system from Massachusetts-based Evolv. five football stadiums and two additional schools, as well as adding machines to four high schools already equipped with the system. Weapon detection systems were already present in 41 middle and high schools in the county.

Over the summer, Atlanta Public Schools installed security vestibules (entrances) at more than 20 schools. Those changes include installing bulletproof film on windows, which is supposed to prevent the glass from shattering if it breaks.

Literacy

Atlanta Public Schools will implement a literacy plan this year similar to the one implemented in Fulton County and Marietta City Schools. The plan, which draws on the concept of the “science of reading,” focuses on teaching phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension to help children learn to read. The APS plan will build on a pilot program implemented in eight schools over the past two years, in which young students learned to spell words through games, group activities and partner reading.

State law requires Georgia school districts to adopt literacy instruction aligned with the “science of reading,” a body of research that supports phonics instruction, by July 1, 2025.

Credits: Steve Schaefer

Credits: Steve Schaefer

New leaders and educators

The Atlanta School Board recently voted to hire a new superintendent, Bryan Johnson, formerly the superintendent of Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Johnson will officially take office on August 5.

Last week, the Henry County School Board announced that John Pace III, assistant superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, had been named the sole finalist to become its next superintendent. The school board will wait 14 days, as required by state law, before taking a final vote on his hiring, at which time it will set his contract and start date.

Credits: Seeger Gray / [email protected]

Credits: Seeger Gray / [email protected]

Many schools will have new principals and teachers. The Gwinnett school district, for example, announced it has hired about 1,500 new teachers and 200 additional counselors.

Mental Health

Atlanta Public Schools will pilot a student-led mental health committee at five schools this year. The schools have not yet been named, but are expected to nominate one student and one faculty member per school to serve on the council. The council, organized in part by the national student advocacy group Our Turn, plans to hold one mental health-related event per semester.

New and renovated schools

Next school year, Gwinnett will build a new middle school in the Archer cluster to relieve McConnell Middle School, which has more than 2,000 students. The new building will have a capacity of 1,100 students and is expected to open in August 2026. The new school has not yet been named, but it will be located on the east side of the cluster at 2945 Indian Shoals Road in Dacula. The project is estimated to cost $41.4 million.

In August, Central Gwinnett High School will complete construction of its fourth floor, increasing the school’s capacity to 2,700 students, an increase of 350 students. The project will cost $2.6 million. Also in August, renovations to Archer High School will be completed. The school will have 25 new classrooms and increase its capacity from 2,850 to 3,325 students. The project will cost $15.7 million.

The Fulton County School District will reopen a former alternative school, McClarin High School, as the Promise Career Institute. Fulton partnered with Atlanta Technical College to develop a curriculum focused on Georgia’s new Accelerated Career Diploma. The program is career-focused, so students take fewer high school classes and more vocational courses. They earn a high school diploma and either two technical certificates, a technical college diploma or an associate’s degree. Enrollment is open to students at any Fulton County high school, officials said.

Henry County plans to open Birch Creek Elementary School at 850 Willow Lane in McDonough. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new building is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Atlanta Public Schools will redevelop the former Oglethorpe Elementary School building at 601 Thomas W. Cole Jr. Way, near the Atlanta University Center. The building will open as a resource center called the APS Student and Family Support Hub. It will house the district’s homeless and foster care services, social services, counseling and other support services.

Editors Cassidy Alexander, Martha Dalton, Josh Reyes and Leon Stafford contributed to this article.