Superintendent of Athens City Schools Dr. Trey Holladay announced for the first time publicly that he is confident the new Athens High School will be ready by the time school starts in the fall of 2018.

“It looks like we will be able to start the school year in the new building,” Holladay said. “This is substantially good news, especially since we are dealing with several moving parts.”

The moving parts Holladay referred to include the relocation of Athens Middle School to the current Athens High School, which will accommodate students in sixth through eighth grade. To make more room in the city’s four elementary schools, all fourth-grade classes will be moved to Athens Intermediate, making it a program for fourth through fifth grades.

Jim Maynard, the Project Manager for Martin & Cobey Construction Co., provided an update on the progress of the school at the meeting. He said that the building is now “about 52-53 percent” done, thanks in part to the right weather and a full site crew.

“A field of bricks is now visible from the road,” he said. “The band and choir room are complete, and we are turning the corner and are starting to brick the cafeteria area.”

He also reported that they have begun roofing the building, a project that will take 7-10 weeks. Windows for the school will be arriving in the next two weeks.

“The schedule looks good right now,” he added. “We have actually gained a few weeks.”

Dyslexia update

Amy Williams, elementary curriculum coordinator for ACS, provided the board with a detailed update on the system’s dyslexia programs.

Springboarding off the fact that October is Dyslexia Awareness Month, Williams highlighted the system’s progress since 2015, when state law was amended to provide for universal dyslexia screening in Alabama’s public schools. Since then, the system has sent several teachers to receive certification in the Orton-Gillingham approach—a multisensory reading program especially helpful to those with dyslexia.

Two teachers have become OG trainers, resulting in at least one OG-trained teacher in every school.

“We feel confident that we have an advocate for every child, in every school,” Williams said.