ATLANTA GRADE SCHOOL FRIENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2025
RECAP OF 2025
MONTHLY NEWSLETTERS ▪ We celebrated another successful year of 12 monthly issues! ▪ 2025 marked our 4th year of publication. We have 430 subscribers and an open rate of 50.1% (much higher than the national nonprofit average: 28.5%). ▪ Our MailChimp account is fully owned and managed by Atlanta Grade School Friends as of 2025. ▪ This year’s newsletters shared historical accounts of AtlantaMiller Grade School;Atlanta, Texas; future partnerships; and discussions about the potential benefits the restored school will provide. ▪ Sign up today!
MONTHLY NEWSLETTERS Thanks to this year’s guest authors in order of appearance:
▪ Simon Butler of Architexas ▪ Katherine Allday Stubbs ▪ Jane Cook Barnhill ▪ Cass County Judge Travis Ransom ▪ Kendell Hale ▪ Lee Ellen Benjamin
WEBSITE
NEW WEBSITE ▪ In April, we transitioned to WordPress and a new webmaster. Since April, we have had 11,200 visits! ▪ No longer donated, the website is now owned and managed by Atlanta Grade School Friends.
▪ Added to the original content: newsletter archives; a page devoted to photographs old and new; contact forms for key Board members; extensive charitable giving information; a donor acknowledgement page; and more. ▪ Top downloads include our Preservation Texas award press release and our incredible endorsement letters.
GUIDESTAR GOLD
▪ GuideStar transformed its platform this year, and we transformed our profile along with it. ▪ Extensive updates were shared, and we uploaded new tax return documentation. ▪ We celebrated our 3rd year of holding a GuideStar gold seal for transparency! ▪ This year we changed our NTEE Code. We are now listed as a community and neighborhood development organization rather than a “school.”
YOUTUBE
This year’s top most watched video!
YOUTUBE: COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS
Atlanta Grade School Friends broadened its knowledge of community needs and interests by using YouTube @atlantagradeschoolfriends to host and share conversations with area civic leaders in 2025.
These invaluable discussions helped us understand how the restored Atlanta-Miller Grade School and community center can meet the needs and interests of the community and the region.
YOUTUBE: WE GREW
FACEBOOK: THANK YOU FOR VISITING
Facebook and YouTube are the top most used social media platforms today, and we are there.
We continued to fine-tune and expand our BetterUnite database and our USPS mailing list.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Donors were acknowledged on Facebook and on the new website. Online giving and USPS options were shared on the new website. We encouraged monthly and planned giving in 2025! We instituted professional security measures for our online activities. We continued working with Google Workspace. Thanks to Walmart, we installed Internet service at the historic school. We launched a new partnership with TechSoup, one we hope will grow in the years ahead. Our longtime trusted partnership with Ratliff & Jentho, CPAs for tax preparation and submission to the IRS continued to ensure compliance with all applicable laws.
CONNECTIONS BEYOND CASS COUNTY
Atlanta Grade School Friends participated in the Creative Spaces Summit in Fort Worth in July 2025 hosted by MINDPOP and Preservation Texas. During the conference, insightful information about long term sustainability was shared, and we had the chance to meet others working on similar adaptive reuse projects across Texas.
CONNECTIONS BEYOND CASS COUNTY We also met in Austin in June with Merrill Davis and John Reynolds of the think tank Texas 2036 to brainstorm ideas about what a rural city like Atlanta can do to make Texas the best it can be by 2036 (the same year as our 100th anniversary). In October, we met with Travis Smith of Preservation Austin and toured the historic Baker School in Austin, which dates from 1939. It has become a successful adaptive reuse project in Texas!
CONSTRUCTION
CONSTRUCTION In 2025, we were able to hire Andrei Moore as our new onsite Supervisor. As construction begins, we need a professional to be on point!
Thanks to a generous initial gift to the restoration of AtlantaMiller Grade School, we were able to begin work restoring our extensive set of windows.
A construction fence was installed onsite, and work on the flooring began. Colors and finishes were selected. #Progress
CONSTRUCTION
Danny Stanley met numerous times with Architexas to finalize our contract and review last minute details in order to begin onsite work.
Regular communication with Architexas and Premier Construction is ongoing to ensure that we focus on top priorities and monitor our budget carefully.
FOCUSING ON WHAT MATTERS IN 2025 Jane Cook Barnhill Letter to the
Citizens Journal in 2001
“Many of us who grew up in Atlanta during the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and even into the 70’s remember the building fondly. We remember the teachers who taught us in that building.”
Jane Cook Barnhill Letter to the Citizens Journal in 2001 “Miller Grade School represents the lifework of many teachers. The respect we have for the building is one tangible way we show respect for them.”
Jane Cook Barnhill Letter to the Citizens Journal in 2001
FEATURED IN THE AUGUST 2025 NEWSLETTER
“The historic fabric left in Atlanta is important. People across America are not demolishing structures without strong consideration of options that could include using old buildings in new ways. Our school buildings can be renovated to meet state-ofthe-art technology and codes. ‘Newer’ is not better.”
THE THREE RS: RESTORE, RENOVATE AND REVITALIZE A HISTORIC ICON
PHASES COMPLETED AND UNDERWAY
• Phase I: Restore | 2002 through 2022 • Phase II: Renovate | 2022 to 2026 • Phase III: Revitalize | 2026 to 2036
Rooms in the restored Atlanta-Miller Grade School will be named in honor of the teachers who gave their lives and talents to hundreds of young Atlanta pupils.
NEW NAMING CONCEPT
Teachers played an essential role in forming the minds, characters and memories of the students who attended 1936 to 1974. Donors to The Three Rs campaign will be recognized on an attractive central plaque in the restored building and also online, in keeping with modern trends. Follow us on YouTube @atlantagradeschoolfriends.
CASE FOR SUPPORT
• Our case for support document was fine-tuned this year, and it is being reviewed by potential donors and influencers across Texas. • If you would like to receive a copy digitally, kindly email us. • This detailed document outlines our history; the national historical context of AtlantaMiller Grade School; volunteer work that saved the facility; future plans for a modern new community center; our design and construction budget; timeline; long-range plan; and more. We update it regularly.
PHASE II MOVING INTO PHASE III
In August we received and reviewed the restoration budget from Architexas and Premier Commercial.
It will take 9-10 months to restore AtlantaMiller Grade School and convert it into a modern community center: our focus for 2026.
Next year will be a game changer as we slowly but surely move into Phase III: Revitalize.
With a generous initial donation to launch the campaign, we were able to move forward with basic work on the building in 2025.
GRANTS AND MAJOR GIFTS ARE BEING DISCUSSED • If you can open a door to a potential donor, kindly visit with a member of the Board of Directors and/or email us. • Our fundraising goal is impressive, but merits everyone’s support! With a population of 5,430 we will also look beyond Atlanta for investors wanting to make a positive difference. Quality design and construction is essential. • Once the historic building is restored and receives a National Register marker - and once we are able to receive the public - we will not only be able to better serve the community but also attract heritage tourists, “snow birds,” conference and professional meeting hosts and more. Stay tuned! • We are already receiving inquiries for office leasing in the restored facility.
ON THE HORIZON: PHASE III Late 2026 to 2036
• We anticipate the grand opening to occur in late fall of 2026. • Thanks to the Atlanta Historical Museum, we will collaborate on a Smithsonian traveling exhibition. Atlanta was one of six cities chosen to host the Museum on Main Street exhibition! • Exhibition dates are January 9 through February 21, 2027. • Summer 2026: we will likely begin booking events in the restored school. • Once Phase II is complete, our nonprofit will turn its focus to planning the 100th anniversary of Atlanta-Miller Grade School which occurs in 2036.
FIND US ONLINE • WEBSITE: ATLANTAGRADESCHOOLFRIENDS.ORG • FACEBOOK AND YOUTUBE: @ATLANTAGRADESCHOOLFRIENDS • ISSUU @AGSF2023 • GUIDESTAR PROFILE 46-0492043 • EMAIL US: ATLANTAGRADESCHOOLFRIENDS@GMAIL.COM
Slide show by Carolyn M. Appleton December 15, 2025