The Hall County School District officially unveiled and dedicated Sandra Dunagan Deal Elementary School Monday night.
The ceremony was held in the school's gymnasium during the Hall County School Board’s regularly scheduled meeting. It paid tribute to the life of its namesake, former First Lady of Georgia Sandra Dunagan Deal.
“Today, we celebrate the dedication and lasting impact of a remarkable woman, Mrs. Sandra Dunnigan Deal,” SDDES principal Keri Smith said during the service. “Mrs. Deal modeled compassion, education and service. As the First Lady of Georgia, she was committed to literacy and learning, which touched countless lives. She has truly left a legacy that will inspire the students at this school and generations to come.”
SDDES, which merged Riverbend and White Sulphur Elementary Schools, officially opened for the 2024-2025 school year on Aug. 2. The facility is the first of two merger schools in the system, with construction already underway for Everwood Elementary School, which will combine McEver Arts Academy and Oakwood Elementary School.
During the service, officials unveiled a portrait of Sandra Deal, which will hang in the school’s front lobby in her memory. Painted by Travis Massey, the piece depicts Sandra reading to a group of children, commemorating her advocacy for literacy in Georgia.
“I did not want to do something that [was] just how she looks,” Massey explained to AccessWDUN. “I wanted to do something that embodied what she did, and that was read to school kids. So, I designed the portrait from several pictures they had furnished for me to go by…from what I hear, it captured her personality beautifully.”
Former Governor Nathan Deal also spoke at the ceremony, praising the new facility and the community’s support.
“Education is important to all of us,” Deal said. “And we are fortunate when we find good teachers, we find good academic leaders, and when we find a community that embraces the importance of education, and this community has done that. Thank you so much for this honor, and we will always be appreciative of it.”
