Atlanta school officials are trying to decide the future of the former Inman Middle School in the heart of the Virginia-Highland neighborhood.
The 4.2-acre site, situated in a walkable area brimming with homes, eateries and parks, is a high-profile location in Atlanta Public Schools’ property portfolio.
Inman stopped operating as a middle school last year, after the district completed a $52 million renovation to open Howard Middle School about two miles south.
Now, the district is trying to determine what will become of the Inman site.
APS will host a meeting, billed as a “community listening session,” at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to gather public input.
“We want to hear from our community about the future use of the building,” Superintendent Lisa Herring told parents in a recent letter.
The Inman site is being used now to house students from Morningside Elementary School, while crews work on a construction project there. Morningside is undergoing a more than $17 million renovation and expansion project scheduled to wrap up in July 2022.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Officials cited overcrowding at Inman as a reason why the district invested money into renovating Howard, which has room for several hundred more students.
For years, district officials kept an eye on enrollment growth in schools that feed into Grady High School on the city’s east side. Officials previously said those schools are running out of space.
The pandemic makes student numbers more difficult to predict. APS recently announced it was pausing a larger facilities master planning project to give experts more time to study trends.
There are several possibilities for the Inman site. The district could launch a new kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school at the site. It also could open a fourth and fifth grade campus or a fifth and sixth grade campus, both of which could serve students from several surrounding schools, or be configured in other ways.
Parents interested in what happens should participate in the discussion, officials said.
“They need to share their ideas,” said Michelle Olympiadis, the school board member who represents the area.
Those wishing to attend the virtual meeting can register online.
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