Join with the children of Heron Bay Golf & Country Club in wearing red ribbons to support the war against drugs. Henry County schools will be celebrating the red ribbon drug prevention campaign and children will learn about the effects of drugs, how to say no to drugs and how to live drug free lives.

Red Ribbon Week became official in 1988 and this eight-day celebration serves as a reminder to communities and especially students that drugs are not the answer. The event is sponsored by the National Family Partnership and is held the last week of October to show the commitment of over 80 million youth and adults to lead healthy, drug-free lives.

This campaign commemorates the ultimate sacrifice made by a Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent, Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who (more…)

Yesterday, Helen and I attended the Georgia Charter Schools Conference. We learned that charter schools are public schools that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. The type of charter established depends on the particular school’s mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. While charter schools operate separate from public schools, they are part of the local public education system, so are tuition free and offer specialized curricula in a more efficient manner than other public schools and set an exemplary standard of student achievement. Helen and I are interested in only the best for Spalding and Haley, so we wanted to see what we could learn from this presentation. We are excited to send our little fledglings to the proposed charter school at Heron Bay, Heron Bay Academy, when it opens.

The session we attended, “Green Schools: Dollars and Cents” made a lot of sense to us! The presentation was given by Stacy Patton who is with Minerva Properties, the developer of Heron Bay Golf and Country Club, and who is overseeing the planning of the proposed charter school that will soon serve Heron Bay. She talked about the benefits of a charter school from the perspective of the developer (which was quite interesting) as well as the importance of a charter school to a community like Heron Bay.

In her presentation, she discussed why going green makes sense financially for both the school and community. Ms. Patton seemed to be very interested and passionate about environmental issues. I know someone who would love to talk to this smart woman – my budding environmentalist, Haley, who is very passionate about going green.

She gave her presentation with Tom Sayre with Sizemore Group, who added a lot of interesting material about architecture and urban design elements.

Helen and I left the conference feeling more confident and knowledgeable about sending our kids to Heron Bay Academy and are very excited about the diverse curriculum and academic excellence that a charter school can offer. For more information about the proposed charter school at Heron Bay, I encourage you to learn all about it at www.heronbayacademy.org.

The Henry County Board of Education has officially announced that four new schools will be opening this fall. There was a great article in the Henry Daily Herald giving details about the new districts. While Heron Bay Golf & Country Club children will continue to attend Bethlehem Elementary School, Luella Middle School and Luella High School, the addition of these new schools in the county will relieve the drastic overcrowding that currently plagues the Heron Bay school district. Hampton Middle School will take approximately 800 students from Luella Middle, which is cutting the enrollment almost in half. Locust Grove High School will help to reduce the number of students at Luella High School.

Alleviating the serious overcrowding of these schools will enhance the students’ learning experiences. The number of students per class will decrease, meaning they are able to get more attention from the teacher. (more…)

Yes, summer has come to an end and the kids are back in school. You may be unaware, but Luella Elementary School recently won a national award. The article was posted on the Henry County Schools Web site and describes the prestigious recognition that the media center received. Luella Elementary School’s media center was awarded The American Association of School Librarians National School Library Media Program of the Year Award. Established in 1963, the National School Library Media Program of the Year Award honors school library media programs practicing their commitment to ensure students and staff are effective users of ideas and information, as well as exemplifying implementation of Information Power. The award recognizes exemplary school library media programs that are fully integrated into the school’s curriculum. So, when sending your children off to Luella Elementary in the mornings, know that they have exceptional resources available to them that will maximize their educational experience. Great Job Luella!