Thomaston-Upson Schools

The Thomaston-Upson School System consists of Upson-Lee Pre-Kindergarten, Upson-Lee South Elementary, Upson-Lee North Elementary, Upson-Lee Middle School, Upson-Lee High School, Upson-Lee Alternative School, and Upson-Lee Learning Academy. With a little more than 4,500 students in grades PK-12, the Thomaston-Upson School System is small enough to maintain a friendly and safe environment while offering students an array of resources and opportunities often found in only the larger school systems.

The Thomaston-Upson School System holds District Accreditation from AdvancED Accreditation Commission (SACS/CASI). Achieving District Accreditation is a clear sign that Thomaston-Upson Schools value teaching and learning. The system has great principals who develop and support superior teachers and establish high expectations for students’ academics and behavior. Highly qualified teachers utilize multiple teaching strategies to reach all students. They analyze student data throughout the year to monitor student progress and determine the best instructional strategies for sustaining continuous improvement.

Thomaston-Upson schools provide excellent academic, athletic, and extra-curricular opportunities for all students. Upson-Lee High School offers a diverse and challenging selection of core and elective courses, sixteen CTAE (Career, Technical and Agriculture Education) pathways, advanced placement and gifted programs, eighteen varsity sports, Navy JROTC, dual enrollment with Gordon College and Southern Crescent Technical College, along with academic teams and clubs. Art and choral music courses are offered in grades K-12. Band is available to students in grades 6-12, and drama is offered at ULHS, grades 9-12.

The Upson-Lee Ninth Grade Academy opened in August 2011 with 400 freshmen. The Ninth Grade Academy, which operates as a school within a school, allows ULHS ninth graders to take their core academic courses within this smaller learning community. Highly qualified teachers work closely with one another to ensure that all ninth graders are mastering the demands of the rigorous, college-prep curriculum embodied in the Georgia Performance Standards. In addition, U-L Ninth Grade Academy offers courses and support initiatives at all levels to ensure that academy students are successful and on-track to graduate at the end of this crucial first year of high school.

State of the art technology is utilized to support the classroom instructional programs, as well as to facilitate faculty and student collaboration and the meaningful analysis of student achievement data across the curriculum. The Thomaston-Upson School System has a total of 261 classrooms, all equipped with high-speed Internet access and Promethean’s ACTIVboard Collaborative Classroom systems (interactive whiteboards with permanently mounted video projectors). Students use hand-held student-response devices, interactive slates, digital cameras, digital video cameras, iPods, and video microscopes. The school system boasts a ratio of 2.11 students per modern instructional computer connected to the Internet, which is better than the state average of 2.65.

The Thomaston-Upson School System enjoys a strong connection with the community and views this as crucial to the long-term success of our schools. We encourage students to form bonds with local individuals and groups through community service and community involvement. Our employees are active in local civic organizations and volunteer their time for community events. The unity of school and community enriches our students’ and employees’ lives, improves our schools’ environments, and ultimately creates a community where young people can thrive.

Together, our schools and community are working to fulfill the mission of Thomaston-Upson Schools, which is “Excellence in education. . .every individual, every day.”