by Evelyn Brown

On August 27th, 2024, roughly around 10:30 AM, the groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the new North Springs was held. With snacks and water being offered for free to all guests, spirits were high among members of the community, and the community couldn’t be happier.

“Although it might look unassuming,” announced North Springs High School principal Scott Hanson, “Understand that 250 loads of dirt every day were brought over in the summer, and that this project has been incredibly extensive.”

Committee School Coordinator Diane Fulwider said: “I am super excited; the community has been waiting for a very long time. I think this building will bring awareness to new programs and artistic opportunities for North Springs.” Furthermore, she wants to thank Fulton County schools for providing space for all students.

“I’m extremely excited about envisioning new education,” said Noel Mayeske, parent of Carson Mayeske, and attendee of the groundbreaking ceremony. “I think some of the best parts of this project are the windows in rooms, new programs, consolidating the arts, upgraded sense of history, and some great technology for students to use.

The ground breaking was a long time in coming. According to local lore, five community board members spoke out in 2015, advocating for the construction of a new building to nurture learning for North Springs. Since then, advocacy for the project has only grown exponentially.

“It’s really neat to see the process from a community perspective,” said Jenn Lott, North Springs Spartan Nation PTO President. “We all feel heard as a community after a lot of hard work.” Lott claims she is not one of the original five advocates for a new building, but that her and the other construction board members are increasingly brimming with excitement about the progress.”

Mike Looney, the superintendent of Fulton County, who was present at the groundbreaking ceremony, shared some insights into the process with us. “I’m a typical CEO. I execute design, funding, and deliver on expectations.” Dr. Looney explained that the funding for our new school is funded through SPLOST, a program that enables our district to be debt free and utilize funds as it develops. SPLOST, full name Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, is a one cent sales tax for education projects and developments. The program spends money to improve facilities, build schools, renovate schools, and other education related expenses.

Noel Maloof, the chief operations officer of Fulton County Schools, had this to say: “One of the greatest challenges in this project was the stunt in planning caused by COVID.” In early 2019, the plan to build a new school was first developed. Previously, had this to operations to refurbish the existing building were promoted rather than the construction of a new facility.

In addition to expanding facilities within the school, there is also talk of expanding already offered programs, as well as adding new programs. Mr. Hanson offered this insight into the next planning stage for the administration. “Operations will need to be reassessed soon, before the building is open for business. We are largely unfamiliar with the interior, and so, we will need to reprogram how we think and organize our students; especially for things like safety drills and foot traffic.”

The new North Springs building will be open and up for use come the 2027-2028 school year, but the athletic fields will be ready for use the following year. (2028-2029). The new school will be a total of three stories, with performing and visual art centers more consolidated, an outdoor eating facility, an outdoor courtyard packed with student activities, windows in every new room, and countless other advancements to ensure student success.