Mountain Education to Open 4-day Charter School in Chattooga County

Mountain Education School is scheduled to open in Chattooga County in November with registration beginning October 1st.  

The alternative high school will offer evening classes for students, four evenings a week, who are not able to attend regular high school classes.  Students will be able to register ahead of the school’s opening on October 1st and 2nd and again on October 15th and 16th.

MECHS is an evening, self-paced, public, high school that grants regular Georgia High School Diplomas.

In addition to the full-time students, they serve a population of students who take a class or classes part time and transfer the completed credit(s) back to the high school in which they are enrolled full time.

Mountain Education Charter has sixteen schools throughout Georgia, servicing 9th-12th graders throughout North Georgia.

4-day school week 

Classes will be held in the afternoon and evening, Monday-Thursday, from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

While the Republican Chattooga County Board of Education members John Agnew, Julia Houston, Brad Hayes and Sam Ballard voted against the 4-day schedule for the system in January, in the March Mr. Ballard made the motion for the 4-day Mountain Education Charter High School, with a second by Mr. Agnew and the vote was unanimous.

“The kids have a long weekend, every weekend,” said Sydney Sanford, Public Information Officer for Mountain Education Charter.

Mountain Ed has been around for 27 years and from the beginning has operated on a 4-day week according to Sanford.

“5-day vs 4-day, four just sounds better, we try to work around the students work schedules,” continued Sanford.

Mountain Ed will serve the surrounding counties of Walker and Floyd as well Trion City Schools. According to Sanford she met with Trion City Schools Superintendent Phil Williams and “he said he was on board.”

Students interested in registering will be able to visit the location of the school at the Chattooga Education Center (the old Summerville Elementary School) on Penn Street in Summerville.  They can talk with administrators and ask any questions they may have about registering.  Students wishing to register should provide a current residence, current transcript and other documents normally needed for school registration.

The school opens on November 4, 2019.

The curriculum is self-paced and mastery based, meaning that students progress through the course at their own pace, taking as much or as little time to satisfactorily complete the various course modules as is needed. As a result, no failing grades are given. Students work until they pass.

Credit recovery is available for students who have failed a course at their regular daytime school. Making up failed courses permits students to stay on academic track and graduate with their class. Students may also complete courses they are not able to fit into their schedule at their regular school. New courses require seat time equal to the referring school.