


Just a reminder that dismissal on Friday, May 22, will be at 11:30 a.m. Please note that there will be no afterschool program or Boys & Girls Club available that day.


A huge thank you to Maxyne and Richard Bursky from the Hallyboy Foundation for this generous donation. What an encouraging way to motivate students to read over the summer and help curb the “summer slide”!
We are also grateful that they will be returning in the fall to provide backpacks filled with school supplies for all of our Hawks. #PowerfulPartnerships

Wow — thank you, Hill City PTO, for the surprise lunch for our faculty and staff from the Varsity Food Truck! Bringing this iconic Atlanta favorite right to our doorstep was such a fun treat, and it was definitely a fan favorite!


🎓 Dragon Nation Senior Walk: A Favorite Tradition! 🎓
We salute the Pickens High School Class of 2026! Congratulations, graduates — we are so proud of you!
What a precious moment for some teacher/mamas too - Sweet hugs for Courtney Davis and her daughter, Reece, and Natasha Jarrett and her daughter, MacKenna.
A special shoutout to two former Hawks, Angelina Grizzle and Micah Newton, who are both PHS STAR Students. When choosing a STAR Teacher to honor, they both reached back to their elementary school years and selected Suzanne Hardison and Kelly Moss. What an incredible honor for an educator!




Xavier’s mom, Trista, attended Hill City Elementary when the school first opened in 2002, and now Xavier is finishing up fourth grade just before the school begins its full remodel. What a special full-circle memory for their family!
We are so thankful for lasting connections like this that make Hill City such a special place.

Our fourth graders visited Jasper Middle School yesterday for a tour and got an exciting glimpse of what’s ahead next year!
A big thank you to Hill City PTO for providing a wonderful picnic lunch for our students at Lee Newton Park.








How fortunate we are to have Jennifer Connelly representing Hill City Elementary as our Teacher of the Year!
Tuesday night, PCSD honored all of the Teachers of the Year with a special gala celebration. Mrs. Connelly was surrounded by family, friends, and coworkers who were all excited to celebrate the amazing educator she is.
Congratulations, Mrs. Connelly, and thank you for the love, dedication, and excellence you bring to our students and school each day!
We also want to say a special congratulations to Valerie Boehm from Pickens High School, who was selected as the Pickens County School District's Teacher of the Year!









This kindergartner in Mrs. Gartrell’s classroom has completed her literacy folder and earned a special trip to the Book Vending Machine to celebrate! Congratulations!

Dismissal Times for Friday, May 22nd - Pickens High School and Pickens Junior High will have a 11:15 dismissal. All remaining schools (Harmony, Hill City, Tate and Jasper Middle) will have an 11:30 dismissal. Graduation will be Friday, May 22nd at 7:00 PM at Pickens High School stadium.

These 3rd & 4th graders rocked their A.R. (Accelerated Reader, a voluntary reading incentive program in the library) goals and celebrated today with a trip to the book vending machine, backpack pins, and a cookie party!
Congratulations to Matty, 3rd grade, and Conner, 4th grade, for earning the most points in their grade levels and receiving Books-A-Million gift cards for even more summer reading fun!




Students enjoyed lots of fun games, delicious cotton candy, and everyone’s favorite — the dunk tank! Thank you to Mr. Billy, Coach Black, Ms. Emma, and Mrs. Collins for being such great sports and braving the cold plunge!










Dismissal Times for Friday, May 22nd - Pickens High School and Pickens Junior High will have a 11:15 dismissal. All remaining schools (Harmony, Hill City, Tate and Jasper Middle) will have an 11:30 dismissal. Graduation will be Friday, May 22nd at 7:00 PM at Pickens High School stadium.

Our awesome Hill City PTO treated us to a delicious Biggins Barbeque lunch with all the fixings today! Thank you for your kindness and for the wonderful show of support for our faculty and staff this week. We truly felt the love and are so grateful for all you do for our school community! We have the best PTO.



A huge thank you to the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office for serving up this icy delight to all of our Hawks! Our school’s Powerful Partnerships Committee, which collaborates with our wonderful community and business leaders to support special events at our school, is incredibly grateful for their continued support and generosity.




Here’s Mrs. Connelly’s ELA class of poets working hard in the media center with Mrs. Hardison and Mrs. Jamie as they stretched their creativity and discovered the power of found words!









A big thank you to Zaxby’s for the surprise lunch treat today! We enjoyed the delicious chicken tenders, chips, and tea.
We truly appreciate our community for celebrating and supporting teachers this week!

