30 FORECAST 2021 EDUCATION
Education opportunities
growing despite pandemic
Cobb’s well-regarded schools
have long been among the
county’s top draws. Still
the case in 2021, those
schools — whether public
or private, K-12 or above — have had
to adapt during the pandemic, which
has dramatically changed what learning
looks like.
COBB AND MARIETTA
SCHOOL DISTRICTS
With more than 107,000
students, Cobb County
School District is the
second-largest in Georgia
and the 25th largest in the
United States. It is a leading
school system in metro
Atlanta, as well as the largest
employer in Cobb County,
with 17,881 teachers and
other staff.
For 2021, the district is
preparing to open a new
middle school in time for
the fall semester: Susan
Todd Pearson Middle
School, named after a
longtime advocate for
Smyrna-area schools.
The school is expected to
have about 1,000 students
and is designed to relieve
overcrowding at Campbell
and Griffin middle schools.
The estimated $40 million
school will sit on the site
formerly occupied by
Horizon High School
on Joyner Avenue near
Marietta.
Other planned projects —
which, like the new Pearson
Middle, will be funded by
By Shannon Ballew
Pictured is a file photo of first grader Rory Garcia walking into
Hickory Hills Elementary School for the first day after winter break.
File \\ West Side Elementary School student Thomas Ninness works
behind a partition during the first day of face-to-face learning Sept. 8.