Hall County Schools Officials cut the ribbon on its newest elementary school Monday night.
Everwood Elementary School combines McEver Arts Academy and Oakwood Elementary School, which both closed at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
During the ceremony, Principal Laurie Hitzges said the new facility encourages students to follow the school’s values of becoming kind, inclusive and responsible learners.
“Our new school is more than just a beautiful facility, it's a place built with a very special purpose,” Hitzges said. “Everwood was created to be a community where children feel inspired to follow their passions, show kindness and care for others, and grow to become confident, innovative leaders. We believe that real learning happens in a place where every child knows they are valued and supported, growing not only in knowledge, but also in the strength of their friendships and the kindness of their hearts.”
The building features a dedicated STEM lab, performing arts station and a culinary arts classroom. EES also offers an optional Dual Immersion Program, which allows students to have between 50 to 90 percent of their academic subjects taught in Spanish.
Hall County Schools’ Superintendent Will Schofield thanked the community for their support of the project, highlighting that the new school replaced McEver and Oakwood’s outdated facilities.
“It's about time that we get these boys and girls into some modern ,clean [spaces], they deserve this,” Schofield said. “And I want to thank this community for supporting the one penny sales tax. That is what has made this possible… we've got [students] into these state of the art facilities, and the boys and girls of Hall County deserve that.”
Everwood is the second new elementary school the district has opened in the last two years. HCSD also opened Sandra Dunagan Deal Elementary School in 2024, which combined Riverbend and White Sulfur Elementary Schools.
Everwood officially opened when HCSD welcomed students back on Aug. 1.
