Floyd County Schools and Coosa Valley Technical College (CVTC) will collaborate this year on a new program that will allow parents and their children to attend school together.  The school system and college will open the North Floyd Adult and Family Learning Center on the campus of Glenwood Primary School in September.  The new center will combine the Floyd County Family Learning Center, previously located on the CVTC campus in south Rome, with a new Adult Learning Center at Glenwood.  The new operation will have two parts: a family literacy program for non high school graduates and their children age birth to preschool, and a separate adult education program for parents of school age children and other interested community members.  Classes will operate on the Floyd County Schools schedule and will be tuition free for eligible adults.

The family literacy program will allow parents and their children to learn together.  While the children are involved in high quality early childhood education and school readiness activities, their parents will prepare for the General Educational Development (GED) test for a high school equivalency diploma or learn English as their second language in the adult learning center.  There will be scheduled times each day for parents and children to work together on their newly acquired literacy skills (Parent and Child Together Time or PACT.) Adults will also work on raising children, managing money, home life and other difficult issues of their daily adult world.  The overall goals for the family literacy program are to prepare the children to start to school ready to learn and be successful, and assist the parents in gaining the educational skills and credentials required to advance their individual careers and lead to greater economic stability of the family.

For adults who have older children or no children, the regular adult education program will focus on building their basic academic skills and preparing them for the GED.  The goal of the adult education program is to assist adults in raising their educational skills level to meet their family and employment goals.  An important part of the adult education program will be to introduce enrollees to continuing education opportunities at Coosa Valley Technical College and other postsecondary institutions, and assist interested enrollees in making the transition from GED graduate to college student.  Adults who are 18 years of age and officially withdrawn from school will be eligible to enroll.  Special provisions can be made for those interested who are 16 and 17 years-of-age.

The school system will provide the early childhood component for the new center, while CVTC will provide the adult education component.  The Appalachian Regional Commission, through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, with approval from Governor Sonny Perdue’s office, is supplying computer technologies to support the center.  This assistance was announced by Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss in July, 2007.  September 4, 2007 is the scheduled opening day for the new centers.  The public is invited to an Open House Celebration for the new North Floyd Adult and Family Learning Center at Glenwood Primary School on September 20, 2007 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.