Schools
Chattahoochee Tech Moves Up Opening Day
Students weren't due at the Canton campus until April, but some will file through the doors in January.
Chattahoochee Technical College's new campus in Canton is readying for its first students, and they will be arriving a little earlier than expected.
Classes were expected to start at the new location in April, but larger-than-expected enrollment at other locations forced four biology classes to start in Canton in January.
"These are overflow from other campuses where the classes have already reached capacity," college spokeswoman Rebecca Long said. "It will be interesting to see the interest in the campus with this limited offering before we begin a fuller schedule in April."
Find out what's happening in Canton-Sixeswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The administrative and business offices at the Canton campus were already slated to open in January. Staff members will be on hand to help students through the application process, discuss program offerings and offer tours. The campus will also have a student financial aid center.
Chattahoochee Tech is putting the final touches on the new campus, a $12 million project in the Bluffs Technology Park. The 62,500-square-foot facility is the college's first expansion since the July 2009 merger with Appalachian Technical School and North Metro Technical School, which made Chattahoochee the state's largest technical college.
Find out what's happening in Canton-Sixeswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The campus facilities will include nine classrooms, four computer labs, two science labs, four medical labs, three technical labs, an allied health lab with two separate classrooms, and a tiered, 68-seat lecture hall. The campus also will have a bookstore, library and student center.
Each of the classrooms will accommodate 32 to 36 students and be equipped with state-of-the-art interactive whiteboards. The entire campus will be wireless-Internet capable.
Canton was selected for the campus based on students' geographic needs. Fifteen percent of the college's 13,135 students live in Cherokee County.
"Cherokee County produces the second-largest amount of Chattahoochee Technical College students–only behind Cobb County," Long said.
When the new campus is fully operational, it will be able to accommodate 700 students at a time.
"We anticipate between 400 and 500 students will register for classes at the new Canton campus for spring quarter," Long said.
Initial offerings slated for the campus include English, sociology, math, history, biology and psychology. Ultimately, course offerings will include heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), drafting technology, and select classes in accounting, business administrative technology, management and supervisory development, and marketing management.
The college is excited about working with area businesses. The new campus is in the heart of Canton's business and community hub so it can provide training and educational opportunities to companies and organizations.
Chattahoochee Technical College offers continuing education and economic development opportunities for businesses to train and develop their workers. The administrators also will look to foster partnerships with the business community to the benefit of the students.
A public open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held in April. The date has not been determined.