HISTORY OF W.F. SLATON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

BEGINNINGS
In May of 1907, the Atlanta School Board met to name a new school at the corner of Grant and Pavillion in Grant Park. The board named the school in honor of Professor W.F. Slaton in recognition of his contributions to public schools in the city of Atlanta. Mr. Slaton was then ending a 30-year career in the Atlanta schools, as principal of Boys' High School and then as the school system's second superintendent. Slaton's son, John Marshall Slaton, would become Georgia's governor in 1912. Eugene C. Wachendorff, an Atlanta-born architect whose best-known works are public buildings, designed the building. Three buildings he designed are listed on the National Register: Booker T. Washington High School, the first black public secondary school in Atlanta; Crawford W. Long Memorial Hospital, and the Lamar County Courthouse in Barnesville. School records show that Slaton opened in September 1907, but the actual building probably wasn't ready for students then. A contractor's bid was accepted in May, when the school board also agreed to rent temporary classroom space for $25 a month from nearby Grant Park Baptist Church. The deal included the installation of "good plumbing in a water closet" at the school system's expense.

SCHOOL DAYS
Slaton's first payroll reflected Principal Agnes Morgan's salary of $100 in September 1907, while the assistant principal got $65. There were only two teachers, whose salaries were about $60 each. The school janitor, John Eaves, had a monthly salary of $21. School happenings dotted the pages of the Atlanta Journal, with one 1917 report noting that a pigeon had flown in the window and stayed for a hearty lunch of breadcrumbs. SLATON'S

TIMELINE
Historical records kept by the Atlanta public-school system offer few specific details about life at Slaton between 1950 and the late 1970s, but it is clear that white flight proved to be a death sentence for dozens of other Atlanta schools. With enrollment levels plummeting, state officials recommended in 1975 that 36 of the city's 143 public schools be closed, and 50 were shuttered over the next decade. Slaton bucked the trend, though, gaining students each year between 1980 and 1985, partly due to the closing of nearby Grant Park School.

Though the neighborhood struggled in the 1970s and 1980s, Slaton maintained its important presence in Grant Park. An Atlanta Daily World photo from 1986 shows Slaton students planting seeds at the groundbreaking for the redevelopment of Zoo Atlanta. Fifth-graders marched in a 1990 parade for newly crowned boxing champ Evander Holyfield, Slaton's most famous former student. Spanish-speaking parents were urged in a 1991 newsletter to attend a PTA meeting about "la proteccion del nino," or child safety. Despite its historic role in the Grant Park community and the efforts of a handful of dedicated parents, the school began a steady decline. Academic performance deteriorated and community involvement with Slaton withered. The school system cut off funding for building maintenance and the children of Slaton were left to attend a facility in a state of severe neglect and disrepair. By 1995, Slaton was placed on Atlanta Public Schools' "endangered" list. In June 2001, APS closed Slaton Elementary.

REBIRTH
In 1998, a group of parents organized what would eventually become NCS Inc., and began lobbying APS to improve educational offerings in Grant Park and Omewood Park. In October 2000, NCS submitted a petition for a charter school to be housed in the Slaton building. This charter was approved and in the summer of 2001, NCS began it's major renovation of Slaton Elementary. The inaugural year of the Neighborhood Charter School began on August 12, 2002, and looks to be the first of many productive, progressive, and proactive years.