Year in Review 2024

YEAR IN REVIEW 2024

OUR MISSION

The mission of Atlanta Grade School Friends is to restore the historic Atlanta-Miller Grade School located on Miller Street in Atlanta, Texas.

From 1936 to 1974, the school provided a safe and welcoming environment for Atlanta's children and their dedicated teachers. In addition to renovation of the building and the continued maintenance thereof, Atlanta Grade School Friends oversees the development and management of educational programs and related activities for all ages that enhance the building's usefulness.

ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING

Architexas worked with the Board of Directors of Atlanta Grade School Friends in 2024 to review and suggest key elements to be included in the restored Atlanta-Miller Grade School.

ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING

ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING

ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING

While this essential work has gone on “behind the scenes,” 2024 has been a busy year for planning!

Atlanta Grade School Friends has enjoyed working with Architexas on each detail of the soon-to-be-restored school.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates in 2025 …

SAFETY PREPARATION

Infinity Fire Systems, LLC ▪ Prior to restoration, a new fire prevention sprinkler system must be installed. Work continued throughout 2024.

▪ Thanks to Mayor Marshall James Brooks IV, the City of Atlanta provided a new water line at reduced cost, specifically for the new sprinkler system.

▪ Architexas consulted with Infinity Fire Systems, LLC on the design of sprinkler heads and related details.

▪ We wish to thank The Summerlee Foundation and Walmart for providing financial support for this essential project.

NATIONAL REGISTER APPLICATION Working with Architexas and the Texas Historical Commission, we began the detailed process of documenting Atlanta-Miller Grade School, from creating a timeline of its history, to producing a new “OHI” (overhead image).

This documentation is required for the submission of our National Register of Historic Places application to the U.S. National Park Service.

RESEARCH

Architexas located project records regarding AtlantaMiller Grade School at The National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

NARA staff (National Archives and Records Administration), digitized the relevant microfilm rolls and send them to the team for review.

PUBLIC INFORMATION

▪ In 2024, we worked with FastSigns to create a sturdy, modern new sign for the yard outside Atlanta-Miller Grade School.

▪ With new information to impart to the public, we wanted to replace the old and faded sign and share our contact information, social media presence, and recognize our architectural firm.

▪ Our forthcoming major gift campaign is called, “The Three Rs: Restore, Renovate and Revitalize a Historic Icon.” If you would like additional information, email us: atlantagradeschoolfriends@gmail.com, or reach out to a Board member.

BLAST FROM THE PAST OPEN HOUSE On October 5, the Board of Atlanta Grade School Friends hosted a public open house at Atlanta-Miller Grade School.

A “thank you” video can be viewed on YouTube @atlantagradeschoolfriends.

BLAST FROM THE PAST OPEN HOUSE

ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE ▪ Thanks to Atlanta-Miller Grade School first grade alumnus Chris Wood, owner of HandsomeWeb, our website was updated as needed in 2024.

▪ The Atlanta Grade School Friends website serves as our nonprofit’s online “front door,” and it plays a critical role in establishing and maintaining our credibility.

▪ Thanks to Chris for this substantial in-kind donation 2022 to the present.

OR G ANI Z AT IONAL I NFR AST RUCTUR E ▪ This year our new constituent relationship management system, BetterUnite, was filled with 2,140 records of partners, donors and key contacts. Donations were hand-entered and continually updated.

▪ Our BetterUnite records are stored securely in the cloud, and they are critical back-up to hand kept records from prior years.

▪ We also updated our BetterUnite online donation forms in 2024.Yes, you can give securely online!

▪ Donations by mail were tracked and acknowledged.Thanks to Board member Cyndy Vaughan Chamblee, donors were also recognized on Facebook.

ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE We expanded our use of Google in 2024: ▪ Gmail atlantagradeschoolfriends@gmail.com ▪ Google Meet for YouTube conversations @atlantagradeschoolfriends

▪ Drive (secure document storage) ▪ Google Photos (our growing archive) ▪ Contacts ▪ Google Forms

▪ We also thank Google Maps again for updating our street view! #Awesome

ADMINISTRATION

We updated our GuideStar profile to ensure Atlanta Grade School Friends remains at the gold seal level, demonstrating our nonprofit’s commitment to transparency – 2024 marks our 3rd year on GuideStar.

We compiled and conveyed our IRS tax return documentation to longtime professional accounting firm Ratliff & Jentho, CPAs, thereby maintaining a solid record of financial accountability since our nonprofit’s founding in 2003.

ADMINISTRATION We continued our cost-effective partnership with Vistaprint.

We placed a large order of our popular coffee mugs featuring the photograph of Atlanta-Miller Grade School in the snow by Candice Bickham Keener, and we thanked our 2024 newsletter guest authors with mugs this year.

We also continued our new tradition of designing, printing, and mailing our annual holiday postcard with the help of Vistaprint. If you’d like to be on our mailing list or have questions about the mugs: atlantagradeschoolfriends@gmail.com.

PUBLIC INFORMATION In 2024, we published 12 newsletters and maintained our email list securely in MailChimp.

Links to each monthly issue since 2022 are found on our ISSUU digital reading page @agsf2023.

Through the newsletter, we are keeping our community informed of our activities and we are capturing the history of the school, Atlanta, and East Texas.

Do you have an, “I Remember When” story of attending Atlanta-Miller Grade School? We would love to hear from you: atlantagradeschoolfriends@gmail.com.

PUBLIC INFORMATION Thanks to those who contributed to our 2024 newsletters, sharing their expertise free of charge as a public service (in order of appearance): ➢ Julia Stephens Mays ➢ Jo Linda Blakey ➢ JuanRaymon Rubio and Architexas ➢ Dr. Vivien L. Geneser, Texas State University ➢ Kendra Harrell, Atlanta Public Library ➢ Lee Ellen Benjamin, Board Member ➢ Cathey Cannon Foreman ➢ Amy Bertsch, M.A., East Texas Historical Association ➢ Atlanta Area Chamber of Commerce ➢ Carolyn M. Appleton and the Atlanta Public Library ➢ David Gravelle

YOUTUBE

▪ The Atlanta Grade School Friends social media presence keeps our constituents informed and included in our activities past, present, and future.

SOCIAL MEDIA

▪ YouTube chats and information-sharing sessions in 2024 with experts like Jeffrey L. Littlejohn of Sam Houston State University and the East Texas Historical Association, Kendra Harrell of the Atlanta Public Library, and with representatives of the City of Atlanta helped us hone-down future uses of the restored Atlanta-Miller Grade School. The information conveyed has been truly invaluable!

▪ Our Facebook page remains highly active with AtlantaMiller Grade School alumni, partners and area businesses. Join us @atlantagradeschoolfriends!

▪ For written, digitally accessible information, see our ISSUU page @agsf2023.

LETTERS OF ENDORSEMENT

This year, we asked for letters of endorsement from the local business community.These new letters, combined with those already received, are impressive and will be included in future grant requests.You can read them by visiting our ISSUU page @agsf2023.

Reading in your own words what Atlanta-Miller Grade School means to you, and how you view the future possible uses of the restored school, means more than you know.Thanks, everyone!

VOLUNTEERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The volunteers of Atlanta Grade School Friends do an enormous amount of work free of charge as a public service, from guiding construction work onsite, to organizing and hosting meetings, tours, and special events, from working with contractors and vendors, to tracking donations and responding to public inquiries.

To our many volunteers, we wish to say “thank you” for an outstanding 2024.

We could not accomplish all we do without you!

Atlanta Grade School Friends P.O. Box 851 Atlanta, Texas 75551 atlantagradeschoolfriends@gmail.com

GuideStar: guidestar.org/profile/ 46-0492043