FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga — Forsyth County is re-imagining how they do school.
The district is putting millions of dollars towards enhancing safety for students in the wake of school shootings across the country.
Channel 2’s Justin Carter was at New Hope Elementary in Cumming on Thursday. The school, which opens next week, is a $28 million school designed with security in mind, down to the windows and blinds.
“We are in a different time right now, and we have to implement different safety procedures,” Principal Laura Webb said
Everything about the design of the school was strategic. You’ll have to get through a double vestibule to enter and exit.
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Windows to the cafeteria were raised and tinted, so it is hard to look in from the outside.
The school also has a magnet interlock system, where teachers can rip off a magnet to lock the door in the case of an emergency.
“All of our hallways are very wide. You’ll notice that all of our spaces, whether it’s a classroom or closets,” Webb said.
Webb says it gives students and staff more space and time if they need to hide in a hurry.
She says teachers have moved into the 150,000-square-foot building and have spent weeks prepping and training.
Morgan O’Leary teaches first grade and says she’ll be building a culture of trust and safety with her students.
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“It starts with kind of creating that safe environment for them, being a first-grade teacher,” O’Leary said. “They are little, they are innocent; so (we’re) creating that culture where they feel safe and loved.”
The school will house about 900 students from kindergarten to fifth grade.
There are also dozens of cameras throughout the building that the school resource officer and school administrators will have access to 24/7.
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