Impact Academy History
Since 2003, Henry County School District has offered online courses to high school students in order to provide flexibility in meeting the requirements for graduation. In the early 2000's, students engaged in courses that were much like online textbooks and had class discussions with teachers. HCS worked closely with other metro Atlanta districts to develop the best online coursework possible with the teachers we had within our districts. For the rest of the decade, we offered online coursework to thousands of students throughout our growing school district.
The desire and need for online courses grew and Henry County Online Academy was born.
In 2010, the US Department of Education publish a report of meta-analysis of the research regarding online and blended learning which indicated that students who engaged in quality online learning faired well compared to traditional face-to-face learners but when students have access to a teacher for a portion of their instruction in combination with online resources (blended learning) the results were very promising.
HCS took the research seriously and began to investigate and redesign the experience students received through our online learning offerings. In 2010, Superintendent Dr. Ethan Hildreth charged the school district to create a full time blended program that uses the best of the research to meet the needs of our students.
A team of stakeholders from the community and within the school district came together to form and create the conditions for Impact Academy. The essence of our charge from this group was to create opportunities for students in grades 6-12 to participate in a blended learning program either full time or part time basis.
In 2011, Impact Academy opened its doors and began accepting full-time students in grades 8-11. By the end of the first year, our enrollment was 100 students. Enrollment increased steadily each year. For the 2016-17 school year, Impact Academy capped enrollment at 700 students.
During this time of growth, our emphasis on blended learning became stronger and more focused on offering the best of online learning with the best of face-to-face instruction. By providing quaility teachers through text, email, webinars and phone calls with quality face-to-face experiences on our campus, we believe we can live up to our vision of providing opportunity through flexibility.
In August of 2024, Impact Academy transitioned from being a program of Henry County Schools to being an actual school in the district. Students are now enrolled with Impact Academy as their primary school and are only affiliated with their zoned school if they participate in athletics. It has been an exciting time for students and staff as they are now getting to have some of the "typical" on campus experiences like graduation.