A dedication program of Carter G. Woodson Elementary School was held October of 1972. On January 31, 1972, Carter G. Woodson received its first students and faculty. The abundance of open space allows numerous opportunities for physical, social and intellectual growth. The curriculum is centered around the Georgia Department of Educations Quality Core Curriculum. The curriculum is enhanced by a computer technology lab, a town hall and banking center, and tutorial programs. The banking center is sponsored by Washington Mutual.

Woodson Elementrary School is located on Donald L. Hollowell Drive. Donald L. Hollowell the venerable civil rights attorney who once sprung the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. from prison, died on Dec. 27, 2004 of heart failure. He was 87.
Born in Wichita, Kan., Hollowell earned his high school diploma while serving for six years with the U.S. Army 10th Cavalry, the regiment known as the Buffalo Soldiers in the Old West. He attended Lane College in Jackson, Tenn., but dropped out of school and reenlisted when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. During World War II, he rose to the rank of captain while fighting in Europe.
Hollowell returned to Lane after the war to complete his education, then earned a law degree from Loyola University in Chicago. After settling in Atlanta, he supported the civil rights movement through the legal system. Hollowell represented King in 1960 when the civil rights leader was sent to Georgia's Reidsville Prison on a traffic charge. He represented Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes Jr., and helped them desegregate the University of Georgia.
Hollowell's firm helped desegregate Atlanta's schools and Augusta's buses, and later won a landmark case that required Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital to admit black doctors and dentists to its staff. The firm also came to the defense of Preston Cobb, a black teen who was sentenced to die for allegedly killing a white man. Hollowell stopped the execution and got Cobb released. In his spare time, Hollowell defended hundreds of lesser-known civil rights protesters and mentored young black lawyers, including Vernon Jordan, an adviser to Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and Horace Ward, a federal judge.
In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Hollowell to be the first director of the southeastern office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a government agency that monitors workplace discrimination. He remained at the EEOC for nearly 20 years. A former president of the Voter Education Project, Hollowell helped increase the number of African-American voters from 3 million to 5.5 million.
For his lifetime of achievement and dedication to civil rights, the Emory University law school established a professorship in his name and the city of Atlanta named a street after him. Hollowell's undergrad alma mater plans to name its library in his honor.

No Child Left Behind

The Atlanta Public School System will continue to implement the NO Child Left Behind Act signed into law by President Bush on January 8, 2002. This law is designed to improve the academic achievement of all students. As a requirement of this new law, you will be notified if your child is taught by or assigned to a teacher who is not “highly qualified” for four consecutive weeks during any period this school year. As a parent, you also have the right to request information about the qualifications of your child’s teacher(s) and any paraprofessional(s) who instruct them. In accordance with Section 118 of Public Law 10-382, the School-Parent Compact, you will receive information about parent/guardian involvement activities. The purpose of the School-Parent Compact is to build and foster development of school parent partnership to help all children achieve the State’s high standards. Each parent is responsible for supporting their child's learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, and television watching; volunteering in theirs child’s classroom, and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and positive use of extracurricular time. We actively encourage and initiate parental and community involvement.

A Parent's Daily Checklist for a Child's Learning

Have I asked my child what he/she learned in school today?
Do I show a genuine interest in how he/she feel about the day?
Have I scheduled a quiet time for learning for my child today?
How can I praise the initiative or thinking of my child? Have I done it today?
Do I clearly make my expectations known to my child?
Do I avoid making excuses for low effort by my child?
Have I motivated my child to learn today by rewarding or praising good effort?
Did I set a good example today by reading or writing myself?
How will I get relaxed before working on homework with my child so that I do not become frustrated and impatient?
Have I made it clear that my child, not me is responsible for homework?
Did I review my child's homework? If the child had difficulties with the homework, did I attach a note letting the teacher know about the problems my child had with the assignment?
Can I involve my children a household activity today that will show the practical importance of learning ?
Have I encouraged my child to pursue a hobby, reading the newspaper, or another independent activity?

Help Us... Help Others Campaign

Carter G. Woodson’s “Help Us …Help Others Campaign” started with one third grade class’ awareness of the magnitude of events surrounding Hurricane Katrina. After watching the events unfold in the news, these students decided to be change agents by donating one dollar each. The students’ compassion and generosity soon motivated the entire Woodson Family and Community to get on board. As a result, Woodson and Grove Park Elementary donated 15 boxes of school supplies to Adamsville Information Center for Evacuees. Woodson Elementary, Bolton Academy and the community donated 50 boxes of clothing toiletries, and food to Shiloh Baptist Church for service to Pascagoula, Mississippi. Staff and third grade students also volunteered to help box and load the tractor trailer at Shiloh with other donated items. Eight staff members have volunteered near the front line since Hurricane Katrina in Pascagoula, Mississippi and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

New Student evacuees entering Woodson received a book bag, some uniforms, and welcome letters from Woodson students. The staff also sponsored a fried chicken dinner and a fish fry to welcome the Katrina evacuee families to the Woodson community.