School Information

School Office Hours:  Monday-Friday 7 am-3 pm

School Hours for Students:  Monday-Friday

*The building will not be opened until 7:00 am daily. No student should arrive before 7:00 am.

 

In order to minimize disruption in the classroom and limit visitors inside the building, please double-check everything before your child leaves the home; however, please bring forgotten lunches, money, homework, etc. to the office. We will make sure your child gets each item outside of instructional time.

Any students needing to change routine transportation plans (such as a child going home with another student in car riders) must have a note from all parents involved in the change. Students may not ride the bus home with a friend. Transportation changes will not be accepted by email or over the phone. A change will only be accepted for an emergency when the office receives a faxed/e-mailed ID with written and signed permission by 1:45 PM.

If a child needs to leave school before the end of the instructional day, a parent/guardian must sign the child out in the office. Personal identification will be required. Your child will be released only to parents, guardians, or other persons listed in the online Gateway. Office personnel will call the child from the classroom. No child will be released directly from a classroom or the playground to any adult - including parents - unless accompanied by office personnel.  Students may not be checked out between 1:45 PM and 2:15 PM.

Morning car riders can enter the building at 7 AM. Please do not line up in the parking lot prior to 7 AM due to blocking parking spots. Car riders need to be dropped off by the side door from 7 AM-7:15 AM, or until the last bus arrives. After the last bus arrives, the car rider line then moves to drop off in front of the school until 7:34 AM. The tardy bell rings at 7:35 AM and parents will need to sign their student in at the front office.  

 

All visitors must follow procedures and protocols published by the Cherokee County School District. All visitors, including parents and volunteers, must present a valid ID to be buzzed in through the front door and report to the front desk upon entering the building. Each visitor will be required to sign in and wear an identification badge during the visit. 

Parents/visitors should not interrupt any teacher’s classroom unless authorized to do so by office personnel. In the event a classroom interruption needs to occur, office personnel will escort the parent to the classroom. We welcome your visits to the school; our intent is to ensure each child’s safety and provide maximum, uninterrupted instructional time. Due to limited seating space in the cafeteria, lunch visitors are discouraged.

HISTORY/CHARACTERISTICS

 Free Home Elementary has experienced many accomplishments since its early establishment. It is located in rural, eastern Cherokee County which borders Fulton and Forsyth Counties. The average enrollment for Free Home is 300 students. The small environment allows students and teachers to know each other across all grade levels and curriculum areas. Free Home also has a special connection in which many families can claim multiple generations attending Free Home Elementary School.

History

Captain Delavan Lively, a captain during the Civil War, gave Free Home School its name. Captain Lively owned land near the first existing one room school in the area, Chestnut Log, which was located at a crossroads in the Cross Roads Militia District of Cherokee County, Georgia. Due to limited financial resources, families who farmed the land were unable to buy land or build homes; therefore, Captain Lively offered free land to anyone who wanted to build a house with the understanding that the property would revert to him if the people moved away. Thus, the name of the community became known as Free Home. It was during Captain Lively’s administration as a teacher that a new one-room school house was built. A second building was later built to meet the expanding needs of the community. A third building was erected in 1906.

The larger, two story building, a mural is in the current cafeteria, was constructed in 1919 which eventually consisted of a lunchroom and seven classrooms housing grades one through nine and named it Free Home. The current main structure, a brick building designed for grades one through eight, was completed for the 1956-57 school year. The new building consisted of nine classrooms, a lunchroom, library, office, and restrooms. An annex, butler building, was added  in 1975, housing five new classrooms. In 2002, the lobby of the annex was remodeled to provide a small room to meet the school’s speech and language needs. Currently the school has three mobile units housing classrooms.

The school's gym was built after World War II. It had been an old theater or barrack from Fort McPherson. It was given to Cherokee County where a stage and the hardwood floors were installed. The ball field and playground land was purchased from Elbert V. Cochran. Mr. Cochran and several members of the community worked together to build the ball field for baseball games in the community. Cochran Field was dedicated in his honor.

With the construction of a middle school in 1985, Dean Rusk Middle, Free Home changed from serving grades kindergarten through eighth to serving kindergarten through grade six. With more growth in the community, the school's configuration changed to include only kindergarten through fourth grades, while fifth and sixth grade students were transported to Macedonia Elementary, for the 2000-2001 school year. In the fall of 2004, Creekland Middle School opened and boundary lines were redrawn reducing the enrollment and changing the grade configuration once again to kindergarten through fifth grades.

Even with the population growth and change, Free Home remains a close knit environment and the community is an integral part of the school. Parental and community support are vital assets to Free Home Elementary.

phone: 770.721.5960
fax: 770.781.8095