Ball Ground STEM Academy

Ball Ground Elementary is a school that has a rich history as being the core of the community. The school prides itself in its history and ability to change and grow to accommodate the needs of the community. The school, located in the beautiful North Georgia foothills, continues to maintain the community school atmosphere while embracing the ever-changing modern society.
The small town of Ball Ground is located in extreme northern Cherokee County and borders the communities of Nelson and Tate in Pickens County. The name Ball Ground is a survivor from Native American days, when the town site was used by the Cherokee Indians to play their favorite game, stick ball. The hills on which the town is built is thought to have been the tract used to play a game of ball with the Creeks from the south, which resulted in victory for the Cherokees and the prize of a thousand square miles of land.
In 1882, Ball Ground School was built soon after the building of the railroad. The school grew between 1900 and 1910. It was reported that there were no grades in the school, but that the students had books and when they finished with one reader they would take up another. The school population in 1907 was listed as having 160 students. In 1922 the school building burned and school was held temporarily in the bottom floor of the lodge hall. A new school was built in 1926-27. Four new classrooms were added in 1947-48 and the gym was built in 1948-49. The auditorium and several classrooms burned in 1968. The school population changed in 1956 when a county high school opened in Canton. Ball Ground School then became an elementary school for grades one through eight. A new addition was built in 1971-72. A public kindergarten program began in the late seventies. Grades seven and eight were moved in 1986 when Teasley Middle School opened. Pre-Kindergarten started in 1996 and was housed in a church behind the school.
After 86 years a replacement school was built within the city limits of Ball Ground on Valley Street. The new school opened as a STEM Academy in August of 2012 and welcomed students from Pre-K through grade 6. The new building contains state of the art technology, handicapped accessible playground equipment and a family living suite.
Today, Ball Ground Elementary School is an excellent educational institution for the children of the community. Many of the students’ parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents have attended Ball Ground Elementary and still live here and play an active, vital part in the school. The school exemplifies the American ideal of a successful community school.
Currently Ball Ground has 23 homerooms and 560 students. Growth has picked up again after the recession. Under the leadership of Dr. Keith Ingram, the principal, and a dedicated staff, Ball Ground is one of the leading elementary schools in terms of standardized test scores and developing young leaders of tomorrow. The staff is continuously striving to improve in order to better educate the children of Ball Ground and prepare them for an ever changing world.