Education
Public, private institutions have provided rich resources for region since early days Lakeview Academy A private, college preparatory school, Lakeview Academy began as the Gainesville Academy in September 1969 after more than a year of consultation among a group of parents. The first classes for sixth- and seventhgraders were located on North Bradford Street. According to the school’s history, a Board of Trustees was later formed to oversee the construction of a new campus on 35 acres off Lakeview Drive. In 1970, construction began on 12 classrooms, a library and an office, and in August of that year, the renamed school opened with 87 students in first through ninth grades and Woodrow Light as headmaster. By the end of the year, enrollment had grown to more than 100 students. In 1973, the Upper School was completed, and work then began on a gymnasium. By the end of the 1973-74 school year, Lakeview had 219 students and graduated its first class consisting of five members. Over the ensuing decades, the school expanded its curriculum to include art, drama and multimedia courses, and in 1998 officials purchased an additional 50 acres for new facilities, including the Walters Athletic Center. In January 2004, H. Ferrell Singleton announced his retirement after 27 years leading Lakeview Academy. James Curry Robison was hired as Lakeview’s last headmaster in 2005, with several programs started under his leadership, such as the Lakeview Lions first football program. A new Student Center was constructed in 2008. For the 2009-10 academic year, Lakeview hired its current Head of School John P. Kennedy. Kennedy has overseen additional construction, including the opening of the H. Ferrell Singleton middle school building in 2017.
Gainesville City Schools Following approval by voters, the Gainesville City School System was established in the fall of 1892 with 450 students enrolled and R.E. Park serving as the first superintendent. But not long after launching, the school system faced a challenge from local businesses and residents who wanted to redirect money to create a sewer system. More than 125 years later, the outcome of that dispute is clear as Gainesville City Schools continues to grow. The school system now has six elementary schools, one middle school and one high school staffed by over 1,000 employees and consisting of a diverse student population of approximately 8,400 students under the leadership of Superintendent Jeremy Williams. Former city schools that were opened but eventually closed include the Main Street School, Candler Street School and Miller Park School. E.E. Butler High
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Photos courtesy Hall County Library System
The “Crow’s Nest,” shown in the early 1900s, is one of the landmarks of what is now Brenau University.
School closed in 1969 when the school system integrated African-American students. Gainesville High’s first students attended a campus on North Bradford Street that opened in 1892. The school later moved to the Main Street campus in 1902 where it remained until the 1930s when it moved downtown to Washington Street. Gainesville’s Main Street School served various grade levels until it was demolished in 1978. The Fair Street school, now an international baccalaureate world school serving elementary grades, has served the city’s African-American neighborhoods since 1936, and after integration was converted into a sixth- and seventh-grade school. In 2003, it began serving prekindergarten through fifth grade. And in 2012, the school was demolished and rebuilt. Today, Gainesville High is renowned for many things, including its football program, which won the state championship as recently as 2012. Then there’s the iconic granite rock ripping through the earth along Pearl Nix Parkway between Wilshire Trails Park and Longwood Park near Gainesville High, which is often painted to show school spirit and commemorate student events. But it’s also become an emblem for the wider Gainesville community to cherish, celebrate and memorialize life’s special moments. It’s a tradition that dates to the late 1960s.
Lanier Technical College
University of North Georgia
A local education committee — made up of members of what is now the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, Hall County and Gainesville City school systems, Hall County Board of Commissioners and the Gainesville City Council — formed the Lanier Area Vocational-Technical School, which formally opened in January 1967. According to President Ray Perren, the college actually met at Oakwood Baptist Church for the fall quarter of 1966. The school was funded directly by a percentage of property taxes that was included in the Hall County government annual budget. John Lloyd was hired in 1965 to serve as the institution’s first director, a title that would later become president. The original building, what is now Building 100 in Oakwood, was designed by Garland Reynolds and constructed by Carroll Daniel Construction. The institution moved from local to state control in 1988, when it formally became Lanier Technical Institute. It became Lanier Technical College in 2001. With the formation of the Technical College System of Georgia in 2007, Lanier Tech began a campaign of rapid growth, culminating with a brand-new campus on 95 acres in North Hall — more than double the size of the original campus — that opens to students in January. The $150 million, 335,000-squarefoot campus will accommodate more than 5,000 students, doubling Lanier Tech’s capacity.
In 2013, the University of North Georgia was born from the consolidation of North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega and Gainesville State College in Oakwood. Gainesville State College opened in 1966 as Gainesville Junior College with a student body of about 400, and used both the Gainesville Civic Center and First Baptist Church of Gainesville for instruction before moving to the site of the current UNG Gainesville campus in 1967. Civic leaders, as part of a GainesvilleHall County Education Tax Force, in 1962, began working to bring additional post secondary educational options to the region, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia. Former chamber president James Mathis Sr. led the group. Other key figures in that effort include Loyd Strickland, who was also a key player in the development of Interstate 985, businessman Jesse Jewell, and James A. Dunlap, chairman of the Board of Regents. Hugh M. Mills Jr. was its first president. The school underwent several name changes; it became Gainesville College in 1987 and Gainesville State College in 2005 as it expanded four-year degree programs. UNG now serves students at campuses in Blue Ridge, Cumming, Dahlonega, Watkinsville and the Gainesville area. The Gainesville location is now
200 Years of Hall