The new Dean Rusk Middle School in Canton, built to replace an existing school by the same name, will open Aug. 1 on time and under budget, the Cherokee County School District announced.

The $36.8 million school is a two-story, 255,037-square-foot building on 25.6 acres at 2761 E. Cherokee Drive. It has a capacity of 1,600 students, 400 more than at the former campus. Projected enrollment for this fall is 1,476 students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

The school will have 97 instructional units including classrooms with smart boards; computer labs; art and music rooms; gymnasium; “cafetorium”; Cyber Café media center, and Global Learning Theatre. Open houses are set for July 28 and 29.

Construction of the new Rusk Middle was funded by an Ed SPLOST approved by voters in 2011. The old school is being renovated to provide additional capacity for Sequoyah High School beginning in January.

Information: cherokeek12.net/deanruskms/

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Protestors demonstrate against the war in Gaza and the detention of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil at Emory University in Atlanta on March 20, 2025. The 30-year-old legal U.S. resident was detained by federal immigration agents in March. An Atlanta-based law firm has filed a lawsuit against the federal government arguing it illegally terminated the immigration records of five international students and two alumni from Georgia colleges, including one from Emory University. (Arvin Temkar / AJC)

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