Athens Lifestyles
Education
The Athens-Clarke County School District is a separate entity with nine elected members on the Board of Education and an appointed superintendent. The School District runs 13 elementary, 4 middle and 2 high schools. Additionally, there are 5 private schools in the area. The Athens-Clarke County School System also continues to increase its technical program offerings and next year will have a new course on business procedures. The system currently offers a variety of youth apprenticeship programs, such as computer technology, which has emphasis on appliance repair and computer support, among other specialized areas.
Athens-Clarke County spent an average of $6,276 per student for public education each year between 1996 and 2000. This expenditure was greater than the state wide average of $5,285. Based on the 2000 graduating class for Athens-Clarke County school system, 62.9% of the students were eligible for the HOPE Scholarship Program. The scholarship is available to eligible students to attend a post-secondary school in Georgia. Statewide, 57.9% of the graduating students were eligible for the HOPE scholarship. Since 1990, six schools in the Athens-Clarke County School District have been designated Georgia Schools of Excellence, the highest honor a public school in the state can receive. The Athens-Clarke County School District has more Schools of Excellence than any surrounding school system.
The University of Georgia is one of the premier research institutions in the nation, including nationally recognized schools of journalism, public administration, business administration, pharmaceuticals, law, and veterinarian medicine. Included in these schools are research institutes such as the Center for Biological Resource Recovery, the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, and the Center for Applied Genetic Technologies. It also is home to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia which contains over 300 acres of gardens and a glass tropical plant conservatory, the Georgia Museum of Art which houses over 8000 works of art, and the Performing Arts center which brings in cultural events such as the Shanghai Ballet and Harlem Boys Choir on an annual basis. Further, it annually hosts nationally ranked athletic events, including football, basketball, tennis, gymnastics, and swimming.
Athens Tech has an enrollment of roughly 20,000 students, the majority of which are in adult education and continuing education credit programs. Athens Tech also offers a new veterinary technician certification program and a biotechnology degree that focuses on laboratory technical skills as well as skills more specific to the biotechnology industry.
Athens Tech has just received about $10 million in funding from the State to build a new building. Athens Technical College has grown by more than 100 percent within the past five years.
A new Manufacturing Careers Awareness Camp marks a changing relationship between the Clarke County School District and Athens Technical College, as they work together. Students are touring local industries, taking seminars on communication skills and interviewing skills, engaging in hands-on activities in high school technology labs, and learning to work in teams with local manufacturers.
A Program of the University of Georgia Research Foundation in partnership with The Center for Applied Genetic Technologies
The Center offers assistance in three areas:
- sharpening focus on customers, markets, channels and stakeholders,
- facilitating connections to funding, partnership opportunities, business expertise and University resources
- creating a positive business setting through physical location, intellectual stimulation and personal relationships.
The Georgia BioBusiness Center is currently affiliated with several established and startup bioscience companies with research and technology ties to UGA. The program enables bioscience startup companies to accelerate their early growth through access to management expertise and state-of-the-art instrumentation. Interdisciplinary expertise and resources come together through the Georgia BioBusiness Center to nurture and stimulate the development of biotechnology companies for the benefit and expansion of Georgia's bioscience industry.
Founded in 1999, The Athens New Media Synergy Center is a business acceleration program sponsored by the University of Georgia Research Foundation. The purpose of the Synergy Center is to accelerate the formation and growth of digital media, wireless and software development companies in Georgia and to link them with the resources they will require in order to become long-term, successful employers in Athens.
The Center operates in close cooperation with the University of Georgia's recently established New Media Institute, which offers interdisciplinary courses and certificate programs in new media for undergraduate and graduate students.