Winding down 2025
Dec. 26 — We hope you are spending time with family and friends as the year comes to an end, but we still want to keep you in the loop on what’s happening in your city.
🤬 Community leaders condemned symbols of hate that were found on properties in Sandy Springs and other nearby cities.
🧊 Atlanta News First reports officials had challenges keeping Skate City Springs safe for visitors during this week’s unusually warm temperatures.
👷🏻 A Sandy Springs street that has needed resurfacing for years was added to the Georgia Department of Transportation’s list for 2026 improvements.
🔥 The Atlanta Jewish Times reports Fuego Mundo in The Prado shopping center has launched a new menu.
👎🏼 Also in The Prado, Tomorrow’s News Today reports Magnolia’s Kitchen & Cocktails is closing after just a few months in business.
SANDY SPRINGS SNAPSHOT: Sandy Springs Police captured this picture of Santa Claus coming to town on Christmas Eve.
See you in 2026!
The Rough Draft Team
✨ Join Brendan Murphy, Director of the Bearing Witness Institute, for a three-part series exploring Jewish–Christian relations—from early antisemitism to the Holocaust and modern reconciliation. Featuring survivor George Rishfeld, this program deepens understanding and strengthens our shared moral responsibility. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Mount Vernon School student earns highest possible ACT score
📝 Mount Vernon School senior Christian Foster earned the highest possible ACT Composite score of 36.
“Christian’s achievement reflects not only exceptional academic ability, but also curiosity, discipline, and a commitment to excellence,” Head of School Kristy Lundstrom said in a news release. “At Mount Vernon, we empower students to think deeply, challenge assumptions, and pursue learning with purpose. Earning a perfect ACT score is a remarkable accomplishment, and we are incredibly proud of Christian.”
About one-quarter of one percent of students who take the ACT earn a top score, according to the release. In the U.S. high school graduating class of 2024, only 3,041 out of 1.37 million students who took the ACT earned a top composite score of 36.
📚 Read the full story.
Cut costs, not comfort. Your Rapid Ride seat is waiting.SPONSORED BY PEACHTREE ORTHOPEDICS
📲 Peachtree Orthopedics is now offering immediate access for all new patients through their AskORTHO chat feature. Just go to poAskOrtho.com and you can communicate right away with a LIVE, actual Peachtree Orthopedics clinician.
This service is offered from 8 a.m.- 8 p.m., 7 days a week, 365 days a year. And – best of all – it is FREE!
So why wait? Whether you have an immediate injury need or it’s just time to deal with that nagging issue, click now to get fast, free care recommendations and guided next steps for your continued care.
Peachtree Orthopedics has 43 leading physicians and has served Atlanta for over 70 years with a commitment to helping you Get Better.
➞ To learn more or chat now, click here!
Ukrainian teens visit Sandy Springs as part of healing trip
🇺🇦 Seventeen Ukrainian teenagers left their war-torn country behind for a short healing visit to metro Atlanta.
Each of the teens lost at least one parent. Global Alliance for Ukraine brought the teens to the U.S. to provide a break for children from war-affected areas in Ukraine. Roman Chukhvitsky, president and founder of the nonprofit organization, said it was the 11th group to visit since the program began in 2023.
The teens attended an Atlanta Hawks game and visited the World of Coca-Cola Museum and the Georgia Aquarium. They spent time at the Sparkle Sandy Springs celebration, skating, drinking hot chocolate, and watching the parade. On the third week of their visit, they attended a camp with a group of professional psychologists who helped counsel them.
🫶🏼 Read more about the teenagers’ visit.
Sandy Springs @20
SPONSORED BY MWT WINDOWS
Rough Draft publisher’s note: 20 years later, home again
📰 The most recent issue of Reporter Newspapers marked two significant milestones.
As you can read in the printed pages and online here, the City of Sandy Springs is celebrating its 20th birthday. While many of the city’s intrepid founders, including newly reelected Mayor Rusty Paul, like to say that the push for independence from Fulton County began decades earlier, there is no question that Sandy Springs set the stage for the cityhood movement that has reshaped Metro Atlanta.
I wasn’t much older than 20 when I left Sandy Springs, a decade before Eva Cohn Galambos and crew would achieve their goal. Truth be told, I couldn’t wait to spread my wings and experience other places. I needed independence, too, and getting away from my childhood home was how I felt I would achieve it.
That’s what makes the second milestone so poignant, if not slightly ironic.
✏️ Read Keith Pepper’s Publisher’s Note.
RELATED
🤔 As Sandy Springs City Council members prepare to finish their current term, they also reflected on 20 years of cityhood for Rough Draft.
Online coverage of Sandy Springs @ 20 is sponsored byMWT Windows.Get a free consultation today!
✨ Join Brendan Murphy, Director of the Bearing Witness Institute, for a three-part series exploring Jewish–Christian relations—from early antisemitism to the Holocaust and modern reconciliation. Featuring survivor George Rishfeld, this program deepens understanding and strengthens our shared moral responsibility. SPONSOR MESSAGE
What’s doin’ around Sandy Springs
🎤 Dec. 27:K-Pop Vibe Night at Skate Sandy Springs
🐉 Dec. 28: Dungeons & Dragons: Xanathar’s Brunchmaster Guild at Battle & Brew
👩🏼🍳 Dec. 29: Winter Break Culinary Camp at Young Chefs Academy
💪🏽 Dec. 31: Fit4Mom Stroller Barre at Hammond Park
🎼 Dec. 31:New Year’s Eve with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center
🥂 Dec. 31:Ring in the New — Afterparty at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center
🗓️ Add your event to our free, online event calendar.
