ATLANTA — School districts across the United States, including several in the metro Atlanta area, are having to make tough choices to close and consolidate schools.
But Atlanta Public Schools is taking a different approach and showing how a district can move forward.
Channel 2’s Bryan Mims was there to learn more about APS’ community hubs.
The first APS community hub opened about a year and a half ago.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
It has a store where families can shop for clothes and groceries two days a week.
The thought behind that offering: instead of families having to go to one central location downtown, the district would help bring services out to the neighborhoods where people live instead.
Fore Chelsea Montgomery, the advisor for operational efficiency at APS, the idea was originally just a stray thought written down.
“Two years ago, this was just an idea scribbled on a sticky note on a desk,” Montgomery said.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Police shut down highway near metro Atlanta middle school, 1 person dead
- Gwinnett middle schooler in custody after weapons detectors find gun in backpack
- DeKalb County shooting spree: 2 of 3 victims identified; suspect requests bond
She told Channel 2 Action News that the idea was to take a school like Oglethorpe Elementary, which closed years ago, and breathe new life into it while serving families in a different way.
“This doesn’t look like a cafeteria anymore,” Montgomery said about the former space.
Her sticky note idea stuck and now the former Oglethorpe Elementary cafeteria is a store with new and gently used clothes, household cleaning supplies and a small grocery store.
Everything inside is also free for APS families.
“These are our dressing rooms, so people can actually try on clothes as well,” Montgomery said, showing Mims the rooms.
Down the hall from the former gymnasium is a special events room, currently dressed up to be used for a pageant.
In the community hub, you can register for school, pick up transcripts, attend a job fair or even get a passport.
“The amount of people that want to be here, the amount of organizations is why we’re expanding,” Montgomery said. “There are a lot of organizations that wish they had space here.”
APS Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson said seven more of the community hubs are coming to the district.
“This building itself is the epitome of how you take a facility that has been sitting for a while and you use it for community,” Johnson said. “This has never been just a building. This is a place where barriers are removed and dignity is restored.”
The seven new hubs will take root in schools that are supposed to close over the next few years.
The vision is to offer not only stores, but early childhood education programs urban gardens and youth activity centers.
In essence, officials plan to enrich the communities they served by installing these hubs.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
