Garden Hills Elementary School is an elementary school in Garden Hills,

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

and a part of

Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring. The system has an active enrollment of 54,956 students, attending a t ...

(APS). Built in 1938, the brick school building is a work of Atlanta architect

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. It was built by as a part of the

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(WPA) and was made to blend in with surrounding architectural styles. Robert M. Craig, author of ''Atlanta Architecture: Art Deco to Modern Classic, 1929-1959'', described the school as " epresentinga traditional work by" designer Tucker and Howell. The building most recently underwent a renovation/addition in 2001, when a cafeteria and a section of classrooms were added. It enrolls children in kindergarten through fifth grade. The principal is Tommy Usher. It is a contributing property in the Garden Hills Historic District on the

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. Garden Hills was the first elementary school in Georgia to become an International Baccalaureate World School.

Extracurricular programs

In 1997 the '' Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' wrote that the school's orchestra, which had 75 students, some of whom did not natively speak English, "won acclaim", and Anne Sheldon, the teacher overseeing the program, stated that the school's faculty has "absolute commitment to the program" and that the students were "very, very dedicated."

Student body and attendance zone

In 1987 the school had about 400 students, with about 73 coming from the 287-unit Piedmont Court and East Wesley Apartments, known for hosting various waves of refugees, including from the

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, the

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, and the

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. Nehl Horton of the '' Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' wrote that Garden Hills accordingly "has a well-developed and successful program for international students."
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. A spokesperson for the apartment residents stated that "The international component ..as brought Atlanta recognition around the country from teachers of

English as a second language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...

." In 1987 the Atlanta Zoning Board decided to approve an application to have the property rezoned for higher density use, which would mean demolition. In 2003 about 50% of the students were Hispanic or Latino. At that time it had a number of students who were born outside of the United States.

Feeder patterns

Residents zoned to Garden Hills are also zoned to: Sutton Middle School and

North Atlanta High School North Atlanta High School is a comprehensive public high school of approximately 1,800 students in the Paces neighborhood of the Buckhead community of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The school is a part of Atlanta Public Schools (APS). Th ...

References

External links

Garden Hills Elementary
{{Coord, 33.8326, -84.3804, type:edu, display=title Public elementary schools in Georgia (U.S. state) Historic district contributing properties in Georgia (U.S. state)