School History

Holly Springs Elementary School was built in 1999.  It opened in August for the 1999-2000 school with a staff of 35 teachers, support staff, cafeteria staff and custodians. There were 350 students.   Our school's first principal was Mrs. Elaine B. Hopkins and assistant principal Kathleen Moran. The original staff was christened the "Dream Team" as a fulfillment of a dream to create a school of excellence in education by Mrs. Hopkins.  Several of those original staff members remain today.

Holly Springs is known for its high academic standards and quality performance. There is a sense of feeling like a family when you walk through the front doors.  In July 2002, Mrs. Michelle Ruble became principal.  She continued on the path of excellence and held the standards high as the school continued to grow to 500 students.  In January 2004, Kathleen Moran, formerly the assistant principal, was named principal. During the 2004-2005 school year, HSES grew to 696 students.  The growth at the school mirrored the huge growth spurt in Douglas County.  However, even with this tremendous growth, the school continues to be a high performing place of learning for students and staff.

The January 2005 Atlanta magazine named Holly Springs Elementary the best elementary school in Douglas County.  In October of the same year, the Governor's Office of Student Achievement awarded the Bronze Award to Holly Springs for 95% of students meeting/exceeding the standard on the state Criterion Referenced Competency Test.  Again, in January 2006, Atlanta magazine named Holly Springs the best elementary school in Douglas County.

The 2006-2007 school year has been hugely successful!  Our fifth grade students scored second in the county for the fifth grade writing assessment and we tied with another Douglas County elementary school for the most scores above the 90^th % on the CRCT across all subjects.  We are very proud of this standard of success and quality of our program.  It is our goal to continue to strive to  provide our students with the best in education.

Our Vision

Our vision at Holly Springs Elementary is to provide a clean, safe, nurturing environment that promotes the successful emotional and academic development of students.

The diverse learning needs of students will be addressed helping to create life long learners who are able to compete academically with any school in the nation and inspire lifelong learners.

We will provide an environment that will embrace the uniqueness of all children and foster character traits necessary to be an asset to their community through leadership and service.

Belief Statement

It is our philosophy and belief that children and their needs are the main priority of our school. The staff of Holly Springs Elementary School affirms that all children can learn and be successful.

In order to promote our mission, we believe that we must:

• Provide a positive, safe, clean, secure classroom and school environment.
• Engage the children in an active learning process by emphasizing problem solving with real life application.
• Respect and accommodate our children, their individuality, and their different ways of learning.
• Support a challenging and motivating environment by emphasizing quality academics, leadership, discipline, and character.
• Challenge the whole child to achieve his/her full academic, social, emotional, behavioral, and physical potential.
• Share the responsibility for our school's success by promoting many opportunities for active involvement from our teachers, support staff, administration, parents, children and the community.
• Commit to being positive, ethical, and professional role models for students while striving toward continuous improvement.
• Recognize and appreciate cultural diversity with emphasis on mutual respect.