Depending on who you ask in Sandy Springs, the Fulton County Schools Teaching Museum & Archives is either a wonderful space for students to gain historical perspective or an insult to the community and taxpayers.
The school district held an Oct. 14 showcase at the county’s newly consolidated teaching museum and district archives in the former Spalding Drive Elementary School building off Brandon Mill Road in central Sandy Springs.
Former Spalding Drive Elementary Assistant Principal Janet Arias, who is now serving in the same role at Heards Ferry in south Sandy Springs, said the school building’s transformation is “beautiful.” Her attitude was equally positive when asked about her former students’ transition to new schools at a Rotary Club banquet in May.
“Some of these exhibits are of higher quality than some museums I’ve been in,” she said. “Glad to see the building used to continue teaching our kids.”
Initial reactions
The Fulton County Teaching Museum & Archives welcomed its first classes on Oct. 1 and has plans for a phased expansion into available space.
One highlighted exhibit, “Untying the Knot,” documents firsthand accounts of public school integration in Fulton County. Other exhibit rooms cover World War II, Georgia geography, Anne Frank, the Creek and Cherokee, Eva Thomas, the American frontier, and a preserved ’60s-style Spalding Drive classroom.
After the school board narrowly voted to shutter Spalding Drive in February 2025, some parents rallied a nonprofit to pursue a county-aligned charter school in the former elementary school building.
The school district rejected the community charter school group’s million-dollar offers for the building, citing the need to centralize the county’s dispersed teaching museums and district archive.
Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul, speaking at another ribbon-cutting on the day of the showcase, said he thinks the school district has a tough sell to the community on E-SPLOST, the countywide one-penny sales tax for education.
“If you close schools, why do you need capital funds to build new schools?” Paul said. “I’m just not sure how a teaching museum is the best and highest use for the school when you’ve got parents who would love to be able to set up a charter school.”
Mural-covered hallways
Several officials spoke at the FCS Teaching Museum & Archives Showcase, including Museum Coordinator Amanda Smith, FCS Board President Kristin McCabe, and Chief Academics Officer Brannon Gaskins.
Smith said the district’s museums see around 58,000 students a year for her department’s exhibit-based programming. So far, the first of three phases is complete.
“We’re working on expanding from what we’ve always done, pre-K through fifth grade, but also providing these experiences to our middle school crowd and high school,” she said. “Starting in February, we will have eighth graders and high schoolers signed up to come.”
During the walking tour through the halls of the teaching museum, brand-new murals depict Georgia’s natural habitat and wildlife, history, and the local Sandy Springs community. There’s even a case that displays Spalding Drive Elementary School memorabilia.
Irene Schweiger, executive director of the Sandy Springs Education Force, said she is looking to partner with the teaching museum for her nonprofit’s after-school programming.
Michelle Morancie, Ph.D., board member for District 7 in north Sandy Springs and east Roswell, did not attend the showcase, but her Oct. 14 Facebook post lauding the new space received 33 comments, most of them from former elementary school parents lamenting the school’s closure, the district’s use of the building, and the decision to send former students on a field trip there.
Community backlash
Raymond Grote, board chair of the Save Spalding Committee, which recently received state approval for a new charter school, said his community has an “extremely negative” view of the district’s new use for the building.
“The whole thing is basically an adult diorama,” Grote said. “It’s a complete waste of our tax money, especially considering a district that claims to be financially reeling and looking to raise our taxes.”
Related stories:
• Parents, elected officials urge board to keep Spalding Drive Elementary open
• Fulton County Schools rejects $10 million offer for Spalding Drive site
• State approves charter school county shuttered elementary school
Grote said his children and other families have not enjoyed field trips to the teaching museums and archives in the past.
“I’m not exaggerating when I say my children said two years in a row it’s very boring and the worst field trip,” Grote said. “The district also made sure Woodland [Elementary School] kids, who went to Spalding, were one of the first groups to go. I was told it was a district decision and not the teachers’ like most field trips. It was cruel. Kids cried.”
