Friday marked the first day of school for the Hall County School District, but one of its elementary schools opened its doors for the first time ever.
Everwood Elementary School on McEver Road in south Hall County combines the former McEver Arts Academy and Oakwood Elementary Schools, which both closed after the 2024-25 school year.
Principal Laurie Hitzges explained the new facility was much-needed, as the former schools’ buildings were out-dated.
“It builds so much excitement to have the new spaces,” Hitzges said. “The two schools, McEver and Oakwood, were wonderful, beautiful community schools, but they were old, and the facilities were old, and you could see the age in the spaces.”
Everwood’s building features a STEM Lab as well as a culinary arts classroom equipped with a full kitchen. Hitzgues explained the dedicated spaces will allow the new programs to develop over time.
“Our STEM program is brand new,” she said. “Neither McEver or Oakwood had that. So this is something new to Everwood… We have a certified teacher who will be teaching STEM to all students at the school, so every child in the building will have the opportunity to participate in our STEM program.”
The culinary arts program is also new for students and will teach knife safety, how to sanitize a kitchen and other skills developed for each grade level.
The new facility also includes a large Learning Commons with spaces for students to explore news and video production, participate in innovative projects and have stories read aloud to them.
However, with all the things that are new, Hitzges emphasized that some programs from the former schools, like McEver’s dual immersion program, will find new life at Everwood. The optional program allows students to have between 50 and 90 percent of their day in Spanish, depending on the student's grade level.
Hitzgues said the program will allow students to develop their language skills, while simultaneously learning other academic subjects.
“We have students who speak Spanish at home…and they come to this school to preserve that language, but also to learn a second language,” she said. “And then you have students whose home language is English, and they come to the school, a dual immersion school, and they are able to strengthen their English while also learning a second language of Spanish. So it's a beautiful program. And to be able to be bilingual, biliterate and globally minded, that is just such a special thing, and it really prepares you for the world.”
The dual immersion program also makes students eligible to transfer to World Language Academy Middle School after completing primary school. Students may also attend West Hall and Chestatee middle schools, the original feeder schools for McEver and Oakwood.
Everwood is the second elementary school HCSD has opened in the last two years. It follows the opening of Sandra Dunagan Deal Elementary School in 2024. While no decisions have been made on what will become of McEver Arts Academy’s former building, World Language Academy’s elementary school has moved into Oakwood’s facilities while awaiting the construction of its own new building.
