Community Celebrates New Heards Ferry Elementary School

The Fulton County School System on Thursday celebrated its newest school with a ceremony featuring local school and community leaders.

The system held the ceremony at the site of the new Heards Ferry Elementary School in Sandy Springs, which sits at 6151 Powers Ferry Road. On Tuesday, the system held a celebration for the new Mount Olive Elementary School in East Point.

Both schools are replacements for older facilities and are part of a large-scale school construction effort funded through the one-penny educational sales tax, eSPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax).

Mount Olive Elementary, whose old building was torn down in June, is being rebuilt on its East Point site while Heards Ferry will open at a new location. When both schools open in August 2015, they will each house up to 850 students.

During the ceremonies, the public heard from school and construction officials about the schools’ features and viewed their architectural designs. Both schools feature a three-story concept designed by Collins Cooper Carusi Architects. Balfour Beatty Construction is leading the building project at Mount Olive Elementary while Parrish Construction is building Heards Ferry Elementary.

A groundbreaking will be held in the spring for an elementary school under construction on Highway 9 in Roswell. Its design will be similar to that of Mount Olive and Heards Ferry.

Photo: from left to right: Fulton School Board Member Julia Bernath, School Board Member Gail Dean Fulton Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Avossa, Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul, Sandy Springs Council member Gabriel Sterling and Sandy Springs Council member Andy Bauman. Credit: Fulton County Schools