First Day Of School Is Aug. 1 In Cherokee County

WOODSTOCK, GA -- Tens of thousands of students in the Cherokee County School District head back to school on Tuesday, Aug. 1. Many of these youngsters will be attending schools where new faces will be serving in leadership roles.

Ten schools will see new principals for the 2017-18 school year. These new leaders are:

• Ball Ground Elementary School STEM Academy: Christian Kirby
• E.T. Booth Middle School: Michael Manzella
• Canton Elementary School STEM Academy: Dr. Abigail May
• Creekland Middle School: Dr. Susan Zinkil
• Dean Rusk Middle School: Dawn Weinbaum
• Etowah High School: Robert Horn
• Free Home Elementary School: Kim Hagood
• Little River Elementary School: Karen Carl
• Mountain Road Elementary School: Melinda Roulier
• Teasley Elementary School: Dr. Benjamin Lester

An additional 530 students are expected to enroll this year, for a 20-day enrollment of 42,299 students. To accommodate that growth, class size reductions and attrition, CCSD has hired 256 new teachers who will greet students as they return from the summer break (view the 2017-18 CCSD school calendar here).

You can also expected to see 402 bus drivers traveling more than 1,500 routes each day. A bonus for parents and caretakers: later in the school year, the system will roll out a new GPS system with an app that will allow you to track your child’s bus to and from school.

This return to normalcy for many Cherokee County families will, no doubt, result in increased traffic around district schools. To help ensure traffic flows as smoothly as possible, the Cherokee Sheriff's Office will join forces with the Cherokee County School Police Department and other surrounding agencies to provide an increased presence at schools throughout the week.

Uniformed deputies will be present as students arrive for school and depart for the day, sheriff's office spokesperson Sgt. Marianne Kelley said. Deputies will also increase patrols around schools throughout the day.

"Other patrol units will be in the problem areas that we already know about to help slow motorists and keep the roadways as safe as possible," she said.

One of these so-called problem areas is the Towne Lake Parkway, North Medical Parkway and Towne Lake Hills South Drive intersection. No U-turns are allowed at this intersection in all directions, the Cherokee Marshal's Office said on its Facebook page. This includes "turning up onto North Medical Parkway to try and beat the traffic light to turn toward the schools," the agency added.

Towne Lake Hills South Drive serves as the entrance to Woodstock Middle and High schools and the intersection not only has heavy traffic, but multiple wrecks are reported every month. To keep students and motorists safe from themselves and others on the road, the intersection will be heavily patrolled by sheriff's office deputies to make sure the rules of the road are being followed.

The Canton Police Department also has shared on tips when motorists should stop for school bus traffic. According to Georgia law, when a school bus stops and flashes its signals, all traffic in both directions must stop.

Graphic via Canton Police Department

"State law requires motorists traveling in both directions to stop for school buses that are loading and unloading (lights flashing and stop arm extended), unless the road is divided by a median," the agency said on its Facebook page. "If there is a median, the vehicles traveling in the opposite direction of the bus aren’t required to stop."

Image via Patch