North Whitfield Middle School principal details changes, mission statement

Mar. 27—During a recent Red Carpet Tour of North Whitfield Middle School, Principal Larry Farner said the opening of Coahulla Creek High School in 2011 was a significant moment for students at North Whitfield Middle.

"I was an assistant principal when Coahulla Creek opened," he said. "So that transition of having our students go from Northwest (Whitfield High School) to Coahulla Creek was a big deal for us."

Farner, who grew up in the area and attended North Whitfield as a middle-schooler, has been a teacher and administrator in the Whitfield County Schools system for 23 years. This year marks his seventh year as principal of the school.

"This school has such a rich history," Farner said. "There's been many transitions and we've been through so many things in the last 10 to 15 years."

In 2021, after more than 60 years using the school building at 3264 Cleveland Highway, North Whitfield moved to a new building at 350 Trailblazer Lane near Edwards Park.

"Three years ago we were blessed to have this brand new building both on the heels and in the middle of the COVID(-19 pandemic)," Farner said. "So all of that going on and transitioning into this building has given us opportunities to develop even more relationships with our community."

Red Carpet Tours are a joint effort among local school systems, Believe Greater Dalton and the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce that allow community members and leaders in the North Georgia area to receive an inside look at the day-to-day operations of a school.

The mission statement

Farner said the school has a direct mission to follow.

"Our mission is to engage every student every day in experiences that result in profound learning," he said. "You will see uses of technology, group work, hands-on activities, field experiences and experiential learning. We try to give these kids many opportunities to use the information that they get, not just be consumers of it and have it go in one ear and out the other."

North Whitfield Middle has just more than 780 students in grades six through eight, making it the largest middle school in terms of students in Whitfield County Schools, but down from last year.

"Last year we had 869 students enrolled," Farner said. "That's total students, so that doesn't include what we had every day. Taking that into account, we were more closer to 800 last year. If a student came in and withdrew, they were part of that number but they didn't finish the year."

According to data from the 2023 Georgia Department of Education's College and Career Ready Performance Index, the middle school's student demographics included 61.8% white and 33% Hispanic, with 68.2% of students coming from an economically disadvantaged household and 17.6% students with a disability.

"You can see all of those numbers and what this community is made up of and who we are," Farner said. "We love our community and our kids, and we're super proud of the work that we do here."

Keeping students engaged

Farner said part of that work involves creating and maintaining an engaging environment for students and staff.

"When kids want to be here, they're going to do better," he said. "Math and reading are going to be better when they're engaged, so we try to set up an environment that has built upon relationships with the kids in a very professional and supportive manner. That's really the number one goal, that we want them to want to be here. We give them opportunities to grow and learn."

Farner, who was a middle school wrestling coach for several years, said there are correlations between coaching and teaching.

"I love middle school because of that molding aspect that you get to do," he said. "With middle school wrestling, the majority of students have not wrestled before. So, I'd take them as a sixth-grader and then they would get to see what they'd become once they reached eighth grade. Teaching is the same way. You get to help shape and mold these kids to become something they can be proud of."

Farner said the school's closeness to Edwards Park has been a blessing.

"There's not very many schools around that have the facility beside us that we have," he said. "It has tennis courts, cross country trails, a nice creek and a playground. They also have two gyms, eight softball and baseball fields and two football fields and soccer fields. And we go out there for our fire drills. There are many things at Edwards Park that we are so blessed to have."

When Farner and other administrative staff at North Whitfield Middle heard the new school building was being constructed with access to the park's facilities he said it was "a dream come true."

"It's incredible," he said. "They use our facility as well for practices on our back field and we also have our gym that they'll use for a couple of things. It's a great relationship that we have."

Building on relationships and safety

Farner said building those relationships and partnerships with the community is a vital part of success.

"And I think our partnerships are very strong," he said. "We do a lot of activities together. Our district's five middle schools (including New Hope, Eastbrook, Valley Point and Westside) work very tightly together. Our five principals, our instructional coaches and our teaching and learning crew, we are in line with each other."

Farner said parents and volunteers are also important.

"We always have people coming to volunteer and bring in stuff for activities like our fall festival," he said. "We raised probably $6,000 just for our fall festival last year. It's huge. We love people coming in and doing things with our kids. We also have guest speakers come and talk to students, from construction workers to lawyers."

Farner said another major focus at the school is safety, especially with the building being adjacent to a public park.

"We do have those concerns and we're always vigilant with that," he said. "We have our SRO (school resource officer) on campus and he goes and checks every door every single day at least once. But usually, he's up and down the hallway constantly checking. He probably puts in 20,000 steps a day.

Farner said the school is "very strict" in keeping doors locked.

"That's a huge part of it," he said. "We go out a lot during the day, but we always keep an eye out."

Farner said aspects of his mission at the school include helping students learn how to read or become more comfortable with math, but "above all, it's to keep them safe, both emotionally and physically."

"That's what our SRO, our two assistant principals and I do all day long," he said. "That's the number one thing and we work on that all of the time."

Farner said the leadership of the school system is a great help in keeping students safe and alert.

"They support us with that, which includes everything from fire drills to practice lockdown drills," he said. "We do at least one drill a month, whether it be a severe weather drill, a fire drill or a lockdown drill."