Back To School: First Day For Forsyth Students Picture Perfect

FORSYTH COUNTY, GA — Forsyth County students are officially back in the classroom as of Aug. 1, and the photos from the first day prove it was a good time.

As the seventh largest district in Georgia, Forsyth County Schools serves 49,800 students representing 124 countries and 52 languages. In the past decade, the district has grown 53 percent. The district is home to 38 schools: 21 elementary, 10 middle, and seven high, and will open four new schools by 2022.

Superintendent Jeff Bearden said in the State of Schools that the district had a great 2018-19 school year, and he is excited for the future of Forsyth County Schools. Last school year, the district grew by 1,694 new students, making it home to 48,747 students as of May. They expect to surpass 50,000 total students this year.

"Since 2009, our student enrollment has grown 53 percent, which equates to 17,263 new students," he said. "We have built nine new schools over the past 10 years and all existing schools prior to 2000 have received additions/modifications within the past two decades. One of the many things that make FCS special is that even with our growth, we still maintain a small town feel and form connections that go beyond the walls of our schools."

• Opening 2020: Poole’s Mill ES
• Opening 2021: East Forsyth HS, Hendricks MS, and a new Academies for Creative Education building, housing Gateway Academy, Forsyth Academy and Forsyth Virtual Academy

Additionally, the bond will purchase land for and construct elementary No. 23, build a centralized performing arts center, provide air conditioning for buses, purchase new buses, provide district wide facility safety improvements, such as new front entrances, and district wide technology improvements, such as the new interactive panels installed in all schools, maintenance work at 30 of its 36 existing schools, and athletic projects at the high schools.

"Forsyth County Schools is proud to be one of the top districts in Georgia and the United States," Bearden said. "This success has been accomplished with a long-standing commitment to building partnerships with staff, parents, citizens and businesses, all working to support the primary customer, the individual student."