As Cherokee Charter Closes, This School is Looking to Fill the Gap

WOODSTOCK — A new charter school could be opening in Cherokee County in August 2025, if it’s approved this year by the Cherokee County Board of Education and the State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia.

Representatives of Liberty Classical Schools held an informational meeting with prospective families April 22 in the Brookshire neighborhood clubhouse to give interested parties information on its plans to open a new charter school in the county. This was the charter management organization’s second informational session at this location; representatives said attendance was about 35 to 40.

Liberty Classical Enrollment and Outreach Director Janet Tomko told parents in attendance that organization is looking throughout Cherokee for potential locations for a new charter school.

“We are actively searching for facilities — we have identified several potential sites and will continue looking,” she said.

One potential site is the current location for Cherokee Charter Academy.

The State Charter Schools Commission voted in February to not renew Cherokee Charter Academy’s state charter for a new term. Cherokee Charter is in the final year of its second charter term, which is set to end June 30. The school is located at 2126 Sixes Road near Holly Springs.

Tomko said the organization will apply to the Cherokee County Board of Education and the State Charter Schools Commission in May, with the goal of being approved by October.

The organization is targeting either an August 2025 or August 2026 opening date, Tomko said.

If approved, the school would serve kindergarten through sixth grade initially, with 72 students per grade, according to Tomko’s presentation. The plan would be to expand each year to become a full K-12 school with about 950 students, she said.

“Liberty has attracted over 900 expressions of support from Cherokee County families — both in-person and online through information sessions,” Tomko said.

Liberty currently has two charter schools in Georgia: the Atlanta-based Atlanta Classical Academy and the Kennesaw-based Northwest Classical Academy .

“Between the two schools, we have just under 3,000 students on the waitlist,” Tomko said.

Atlanta Classical Academy, which opened in 2014, serves 683 students in grades K-12, Tomko said. Northwest Classical Academy, which opened in 2021, has an enrollment of 709 students.

Charter schools use their own curriculum and teaching methods, separate from a county school district. Liberty’s charter schools also hire their own teachers and set their own calendars, Tomko said.

“The mission of each Liberty school is to form knowledgeable, virtuous citizens,” she said.

The curriculum for K-12 students include text-centered instruction focusing on content, literacy, and language, class discussions, and focusing placed on books and biographies, Tomko said.

Students at Liberty schools wear school uniforms, and no cell phones are allowed.

Students in kindergarten through eighth grade learn math, literacy essentials phonics with focus on language and literacy, foreign languages such as Spanish and Latin, memory work, public speaking, recitation, visual arts, and music at Liberty schools, Tomko said. Ninth through 12th grade students have additional humanities studies, Advanced Placement options in math and science, three years of a foreign language and at least one semester of composition, according to the presentation.

Athletics, clubs and student government are also offered at Liberty schools.

Parents interested in enrolling their children into one of the Liberty charter schools will submit an application. When there are more applications than available seats, Liberty conducts a lottery to establish waitlists at each grade level, per the presentation. Enrollment preference is granted to siblings of currently enrolled students, children of board members and children of full-time employees.

Applications for economically disadvantaged families may receive a weight in the lottery, Tomko said.

Additional information sessions are scheduled to be held online 4 p.m. April 23 and noon May 2. To register, visit https://libertyclassicalschools.org/events.

The organization is also preparing to open a school in the area of Coweta or Fayette County.

For more information about Liberty Classical Schools, visit libertyclassicalschools.org .