Running head: SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY EXPLORATION 1

School and Community Context Exploration

North Hall High School

Valerie A. Brown
Piedmont College

SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY EXPLORATION

School and Community Context Exploration

Gainesville, Georgia serves as the closest metro area for more than 500,000 people in the
14 county region of Northeast Georgia, and is the county seat of Hall County, home of North
Hall High School. Many people feel that this area is a nearly ideal place to live because of its
close proximity to both the mountains and Atlanta, as well as the miles of Lake Lanier shoreline
and presence of Northeast Georgia Medical Center (Silavent, 2015b).
Physical Description

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North Hall High School (NHHS) is located on Mount Vernon Rd., nearly in the center of
the school district. The district is wedge shaped, roughly defined by Thompson Bridge Rd.
(Hwy 60) to the west and Clarks Bridge Rd. (Hwy 284) to the east with the county line forming
the northern border. It contains a significant portion of Lake Lanier including the Olympic
rowing facility, and the towns of Murrayville and Clermont as well as the outskirts of northern
Gainesville. Formerly an agrarian area, much of the land surrounding the school is dotted with
suburban homes interspersed with more established homes situated on modest acreage. Only one
mobile home community and no multi-family housing was observed, although there were a
couple of areas with smaller, less well maintained homes, particularly in the southern edges of
the district near the city and in the more rural northern edges. There is no industry in the district,
however there were a number of
small, family owned businesses
scattered throughout, and some
working farms in the northeastern

Figure 1. Hall County School Districts

area.

Demographics
Ethnicity
From my own personal
observations of the high school and
surrounding community, as well as conversations with school staff members, the students are
mostly Caucasian with few other ethnicities present, and come from primarily middle to uppermiddle class families though there are some lower SES students who come from a nearby mobile

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home community and other more rural outlying areas (Personal conversation, 2015, August 12).
Confirmative data from the Georgia Department of Education (DOE) shows that NHHSs student
population is 85.01% White and 11.56% Hispanic, with all other ethnic groups making up the
remaining 3.43%. The ethnicity of the Hall County School District however, is markedly
different from that of NHHS. Their 2015 student ethnicity figures are reported as 51.12% White,
40.67% Hispanic, 4.57% Black, with other ethnic groups making up the remaining 3.64%
(Georgia Department of Education, 2015).
Socioeconomics
According to data from the United States Census Bureau the median income in Hall
County is $50, 853 which is marginally higher than the state average of $49,179 (United States
census Bureau, 2015). In 2014, 27.70% of students at NHHS qualified for free and reduced
lunch, less than half the county wide rate of 59.37% for K12 students, and even further below the
statewide rate of 62.19% (Georgia Department of Education, 2014). The percentage of people
twenty-five years or older in Hall County who have graduated high school or higher is 78.8%
compared to the state average of 84.7%, and those who hold Bachelors degrees or higher is
22.8% compared to a rate of 28% statewide, about 6% lower in both cases (United States Census
Bureau, 2015).
Quality of Life
Hall County offers great amenities; residents of the North Hall district thus have access to
amenities usually associated with larger cities while enjoying a small town feel.
Jobs
A report recently given by the local Chamber of Commerce listed several examples of
companies either locating new industries in the area, or planning expansions of existing facilities.

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The Wrigleys chewing gum plant in Flowery Branch is expanding in a move that will make it
the largest chewing gum manufacturer in the world, and create 170 new jobs. Also, Northeast
Georgia Medical Center opened a new campus in the Braselton area of South Hall earlier this
year that is spawning a new surrounding medical community. This is very significant
considering that taken together, the 13,000 health care jobs in the county provide an average
salary of around $50,000. Additionally Kubota is currently expanding to add 600 plus new jobs
(Gill, 2015). All these new jobs are driving improving conditions in other industries such as
construction with the number of new home permits rising dramatically (Silavent, 2015b).
By far the largest employer in Gainesville-Hall County is Northeast Georgia Medical
Center which employs more than double the number of employees as the next highest employer,
Fieldale Farms. Notably, the third largest employer is the Hall County School System. Of the
top 10 existing industries in the area, 6 are poultry processing. Tractor manufacturer Kubota,
Wrigleys chewing gum, consumer packaged goods contract filler KIK, and automotive
component manufacturer TRW round out the top 10 (Gainesville-Hall Chamber of Commerce,
2013).
Leisure Activities
Around Hall County, Lake Lanier is a major source of recreation. People also enjoy local
parks, some of which host musical concerts. On weekends, many like to head to the Mall of
Georgia for shopping, or to the mountains for hiking and camping (personal conversation,
August 12, 2015).
Schools
The Hall County School District boasts not one, but three International Baccalaureate
(IB) programs in its high schools, as well as other highly sought after programs in middle and

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elementary schools such as the Da Vinci Academy and the World Languages Academy. NHHS
offers both Advanced Placement (AP) and IB courses as well as a STEM academy (personal
conversation, 2015 August 11). According to DOE data, in the STEM subject area of Coordinate
Algebra 56% of North Hall students met or exceeded state standards the highest percentage in
the county (Georgia Department of Education, 2014). The graduation rate at NHHS is also the
highest in the county at 96.7% (personal conversation, 2015 August 3).
NHHS enjoys particularly strong support from the community. Volunteers created the
North Hall Community Foundation in 2005 which raises money through donations and an annual
shrimp boil to maintain and improve the education quality for North Hall schools. The
foundation has donated over $100,000 to the North Hall Schools since it began (North Hall
Community Foundation, 2015). There is a technologically progressive atmosphere at the high
school; Last year the principal, Mr. Moore, provided all teachers with ipads and apple TVs
(personal conversation, 20015, August 13). Hall County just announced that $2 million in
SPLOST funds would be used to buy over 4000 more Dell Chromebooks for student use in the
district (Oliver, 2015b).
Sports, and academics are valued at NHHS although more media coverage is devoted to
sports. Football and Baseball teams as well as Thespian and Future Farmers of America (FFA)
teams have enjoyed successful seasons in recent years. This year a new performing arts facility is
being constructed. The school also has a vibrant agricultural program (Personal conversation,
2015, August, 6).
Prevailing Community Attitudes
Hall County is both a politically and socially conservative area. Even though the
newspaper is no longer locally owned and features less local news, the front page and the local

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sections fairly well represent the area (Personal conversation, 2015 August 10). Articles with
titles such as There is a Moral Argument for Conservatism appear in the op/ed section of the
local paper (Allen, 2015), and the county just settled a lawsuit over prayer being conducted at
local football games (Editorial, 2015). Programming such as The Dave Ramsey Show is heard
on the local radio station. A proposal was introduced in Clermont recently to have a non-binding
item on the ballot to poll voter opinion on alcohol sales, but even that proposal died without a
seconding motion (Oliver, 2015a). Some students (and parents) still display Confederate flags
on their vehicles.
Many families attend church regularly and their values are shaped by their religious
beliefs. As such, students at NHHS are generally kind and respect others. This attitude extends
to all students regardless of differences. There is even a Partners Club which pairs students with
disabilities with those without to foster better understanding. (Staff Member, personal
conversation, August 12, 2015)
Locals are proud of the school and of the job it is doing. People come back to this
community to raise their children. School spirit is intense and multiple generations attend
football games together. Many people are aware of and interested in the STEM opportunities at
the school as local job opportunities in STEM fields continue to grow. Companies too are
interested; some have donated equipment for learning purposes (personal conversation, 2015,
August 6). Others have participated in partnership programs seeking to further integrate
education and industry (Reddy, 2015).
There are several articles in the newspaper related to STEM in the community. The
University of North Georgia was recently awarded a grant to help students pursue degrees in

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STEM areas (Oliver, 2015c). Another article pointed out the rising interest and participation of
female students in NHHSs STEM Academy (Abercrombie, 2015).
Conclusion
The North Hall community is a great place to live. It has easy access to many of the
benefits of a more metropolitan community while retaining a small town feel. There are a
variety of well-paying jobs, lots of thing to do for fun and a highly rated school system that
enjoys enthusiastic community support and is constantly innovating to meet the needs of its
students, preparing them for jobs that are currently available in their area, and those that will be
available in the future. This investigation has given me valuable insight into the factors that
influence student learning in this community.

References
Abercrombie, C.L. (2015, January 31). North Hall's science, technology, engineering and math
academy drawing more girls. Gainesville Times. Retrieved from
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/archives/107598/
Allen, C. (2015, July 25). There is a moral argument for conservatism. The Gainesville Times. p.
4A.
Editorial: Faith in perspective: Hall schools settlement in prayer case a wise end to an emotional
controversy [Editorial]. (2015, July 26). The Gainesville Times, p. 2D.

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Gainesville-Hall Chamber of Commerce (2013). Gainesville-Hall top employers 2013. [Table].

Retrieved from http://www.ghcc.com/admin/uploads/top_employers_gainesvilllehall_county_2013.pdf
Georgia Department of Education. (2014). Free and reduced price meal eligibility [Table].
Retrieved from
https://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/owsbin/owa/fte_pack_frl001_public.entry_form
Georgia Department of Education. (2015). Enrollment by ethnicity/race , gender and grade level
(PK-12) [Table]. Retrieved from https://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/owsbin/owa/fte_pack_ethnicsex.entry_form
Gill, J. (2015a July 28). Chamber gives upbeat economic report to area leaders. The Gainesville
Times, p. A1.
North Hall Community Foundation. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.nhcef.org/
Oliver, K. (2015a, August 5). Alcohol proposal goes nowhere. The Gainesville Times, pp. C1-2.
Oliver, K. (2015b August 11). Hall oks $2M for student devices. The Gainesville Times. P. A1.
Oliver, K. (2015c August 10). Students get 5-year boost with STEM aid. The Gainesville Times.
pp. A1, A6.
Reddy, F. (2015 August 6). Partnership helps students find job path. The Gainesville Times, p.
C1.
Silavent, J. (2015b August 10). Gainesville, S. hall spar for growth. The Gainesville Times, pp.
A1, A6.

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10

United States Census Bureau. (2015). Selected economic characteristics, American community
survey 5-year estimates [Table]. Retrieved from
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
United States Census Bureau. (2015). State and county quick facts: Hall county, Georgia [Table].
Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/13139.html.