crew of able-bodied volunteers moved furniture,

equipment and learning materials into the new

Joseph Sams School Saturday in preparation for

the opening of their school year Sept. 7.

Built

with donations and lots of love, the 8,500-sq.

ft. facility, can now serve as many as 70

children with mild to severe physical and

intellectual disabilities.

School

director Lana Carr and chief fund raiser Janet

Smola have set up their respective offices amidst

a hodgepodge of boxes and equipment, and expected

the faculty to start organizing their classrooms

this week.

Just

a year ago, dignitaries broke ground for the

school on a wooded lot across from the Fayette

Medical Center. The school has served the needs

of special children for 16 years. Today, the

brick, colonial style structure will provide a

home for a program that has continued to thrive

in a variety of settings.

Having

a building that meets the needs of its students,

from the wheelchair-accessible doorways and

bathrooms to the observation windows and bright

commons area, is a welcome change for staff and,

according to Carr, nothing was omitted from the

construction wish list. In fact, Smola noted that

many things, such as the wooden doors, were

upgraded in quality by the suppliers.

brief tour of the school revealed a floor plan

that divides the preschool from the elementary

joined by corridors leading into a huge, windowed

room. "We'll be able to use this room for

working on gross motor skills and PE," Carr

said. It will also be used as a cafeteria. There

is an art room large enough to accommodate two or

three teachers and their students, and a media

room stacked with books to be organized by the

Girl Scouts.

computer room and speech therapy room with a

one-way observation window are just down the

hall.

Children

from age 2 and a half to 18 are taught by a

professional staff of educators and specialists

on an extremely low teacher-pupil ratio. There is

one teacher for every two students at the

preschool level and one teacher for every three

students at the elementary level. "This is

one of the reasons parents choose the Sams school

for their children," Carr explained.

The

school draws students from seven counties in the

metro area and is the only privately operated

school of its kind in the Atlanta area. While

tuition does not exceed $5,000 per child, Smola

estimated it costs $17,500 annually to educate

one child. "Our goal is to raise $350,000 a

year," Smola said. Successful fund-raising

has allowed the school to operate without a

deficit for going on 16 years.

The

land for the new school was donated by the

Georgia Baptist Health Care Systema and the

overall cost of the property and building is

about $1.3 million.

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