Briefs

The inaugural Frank Hamilton Folk School Concert Series kicks off Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. with “A Celebration of Community Through Music” at Red Light Café in Midtown. The evening, featuring the Georgia Crackers and Rev. Jeff Mosier, will benefit the nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching, preserving and promoting folk music and arts in the greater Atlanta and Southeast regions. For more information, visit frankhamiltonfolkschool.org.

e Galloway School has hired Gareth Gri th to serve as the school’s Upper Learning principal beginning with the 2016-17 school year. Griffith is currently employed at Maumee Valley Country Day School in Ohio, where he has served as Head of the Upper School since 2012. He will join The Galloway School as only the fourth principal of the Upper Learning division since the school’s founding in 1969.

Two Arbor Montessori School elementary students were recently invited by the Sierra Club to testify at the EPA hearings on the Clean Power Plan. The EPA hearings were held at the Sam Nunn Federal Building in downtown Atlanta. The Decatur third-graders, Katy Cywilko and Harper Dodson, spoke about why they are concerned about pollution levels and the effects that pollution is having on the environment. The girls shared the podium with senior environmental and community leaders as well as representatives from corporations such as the Southern Company and Georgia Power.

Atlanta-based Aaron’s Inc. came to the rescue when the fridge, stove and washing machine at Carter G. Woodson Elementary School’s food pantry stopped working. Aaron’s Foundation president, Jim Cates, along with volunteers from Aaron’s, were on hand as brand new appliances were delivered and installed. The school’s food pantry was created by Principal Susan CrimMcClendon after she notice that many students were underfed. The pantry also provided laundry services if students soiled their uniforms.

More than $1 million was raised during the 32nd Annual Mayor’s Masked Ball held in December and hosted by Mayor Kasim Reed. The money raised will benefit UNCF (United Negro College Fund), the nation’s largest private provider of scholarships and educational support to minority and low-income students, and its 38 member colleges and universities.

The students, staff and families from Primrose School of Midtown at Colony Square raised more than $7,700 for charity, making them one of the top three contributors to Primrose Schools’ annual fundraising efforts. These funds, along with money raised from more than 300 Primrose schools across the country, will benefit the company’s nonprofit organization, the Primrose Children’s Foundation.

Ahava Early Learning Center, a Reggio Emilia inspired preschool, cut the ribbon to celebrate the opening of its brand new, state-of-the art facility last month. The inquirybased, integrated curriculum encourages children to ask questions and make connections as they learn about their world. The new facility has indoor and outdoor classroom spaces, a piazza community gathering space, a designated art studio and kiln room, greenhouse, climbing wall, playground tunnel and amphitheater.

Located at Ahavath Achim Synagogue on Peachtree Battle Avenue at Northside Drive in Buckhead, the school has limited availability for spring 2016 and is accepting registration for fall 2016 and summer camp. The center is open year-round from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Scholarships are available. For more information, visit ahavalearning.org or aasynagogue.org.

Meetings

The Midtown Alliance 2016 Annual Meeting will be Feb. 24 at the Fox Theatre. Networking will begin at 7 a.m. and the meeting will run from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Keynote speaker Fred Kent, founder and president of Project for Public Spaces, will offer a closer look at the potential for public spaces in Midtown to create more of the energy that drives both commerce and community at street level. Kent has taken more than half a million photographs of public spaces and their users, which have appeared worldwide in exhibits and publications. For more information, visit midtownatl.com.

e Atlanta City Council will meet in full session on Feb. 1 and Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. at City Hall, 55 Trinity Ave. For agendas and more information, visit citycouncil.atlantaga.gov.

The Decatur City Commission meets in open session on the first and third Mondays of each month at City Hall, 509 North McDonough Street, at 7:30 p.m.

Community meetings, news & events

Neighborhood Planning Unit-M, which covers the Old Fourth Ward, meets Feb. 22 at 6:15 p.m. at Helene Mills Center, 515 John Wesley Dobbs Ave. For further information, visit npumatlanta.org.

News

The Georgia Building Authority plans to raze the former Georgia Archives building— the windowless structure that resembles a concrete block overlooking the Downtown Connector—and replace it with a new judicial complex, according to a report from Atlanta magazine. The project is projected to cost north of $110 million, which could make it the most expensive project ever for the state government. Gov. Nathan Deal has put $7.3 million into the state budget for the building’s design and site preparations. Two firms – Atlanta based Stevens & Wilkinson and New York-based Robert A. M. Stern – have been selected as architects for the new complex.

Ryan Gravel, who first conceived of the Atlanta BeltLine, has joined the city to guide the Atlanta City Design Project. This new project, under the direction of the Department of Planning and Community Development, will envision what Atlanta should look like decades from now, as well as guide future decisions on the growth and development of the city. Gravel is an urban planner best known for his 1999 Georgia Institute of Technology master’s thesis, which was the catalyst for the Atlanta BeltLine. Since then, he has remained involved in its implementation and currently serves on the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership board of directors. Gravel now consults with communities on planning and design for investments in infrastructure through his company, Sixpitch.

Dr. Eloisa Klementich, CEcD, has been named as the new president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm. The vote was held during the regularly scheduled meeting of the board. Dr. Klementich has previously served as interim president and CEO, as well as managing director of business development, and has worked with Invest Atlanta for four years. Previously, Klementich served as special assistant for economic development at the U.S. Economic Development Administration in the Office of the Secretary. She served as California’s assistant deputy secretary for economic development and commerce, and has held various roles with city governments, including the consultant for Mexico’s President Vicente Fox.

The state’s department of motor vehicles – known formally as the Georgia Department of Driver Services – has brand new digs at 400 Whitehall Street in Downtown. The $2.3 million building replaces the doublewide trailer that had been parked in an open area near Turner Field for more than a decade. The center is open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to noon.

The city of Atlanta paid Atlanta Public Schools $9 million last week as part of resolving a long-running legal dispute over tax allocation district revenues from the Atlanta BeltLine, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The city and school system have been negotiating since last year over the tax payments, which have climbed past the $13 million mark.

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