Newest Forsyth County School Named, Opening Set For 2022

CUMMING, GA -- Forsyth County Schools is building its 23rd elementary school, and last school in the 2018 bond program, on the west side of Castleberry Road, north of Bethelview Road. Opening in August 2022, it is projected to relieve current and future overcrowding at Whitlow Elementary School, Vickery Creek Elementary School, Shiloh Point Elementary School and Midway Elementary School.

Board member Tom Cleveland, a representative of the Forsyth County Historical Society, and Forsyth Schools staff reviewed the name recommendations submitted online and studied the names and history of current Forsyth County schools. This group recommended the name New Hope Elementary School, which was approved by the Forsyth County Board of Education on Sept. 15.

"The name 'New Hope' echoes across the decades and endures as a positive vision and message —that the challenges that weigh us down in the past or today, especially we have faced in 2020, should never dissuade us from imagining a better, more just, and more love-filled future," the district said. "The new design of this school, as well as the bright colors and wood finishes both inside and outside the building, also reflect positive growth and vision."

Forsyth County’s history started in 1873 when "old field schools,” log buildings with dirt floors built in cleared fields, were consolidated into one public district. At that time, there were 1,456 total students: 114 Black and 1,342 white, the district said.

Further historical research determined that there were 16 Black schools in Forsyth County in the early 1900s. New Hope was one of the largest Black schools at that time. It served 44 students and was located on land donated by T.R./Thomas Roper. Roper, one of the largest Black landowners at that time in the county, owned six sections of land identified in 1910 and 1912 tax digests. One, where the school was believed to be located, was 20 acres.