Fannin County Now Part of MECHS

Fannin County students now have the opportunity to earn a high school diploma at the Mountain Education Center High School (MECHS).

The MECHS is a collaborative effort of the Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Pickens, Towns, Union and White school systems where students who are seeking a non-traditional school environment can go to earn a Georgia high school diploma. Fannin County became part of the MECHS in August.

The MECHS offers online courses of all the basic subjects including math, science, social studies, English, and Spanish. They have two classrooms, one for Math and Science, one for Language Arts and Social Studies, and also a room for counseling and graduation coaching.

For anyone weary of online courses, Scott Mathis, the Fannin County MECHS technician support person, is always on site. Mathis said of the online courses,

“I am always here to provide support in assisting people with new technology.”

Mathis also said that some of the computers they have are new computers such as Macbook Airs.

All the teachers at the Fannin County MECHS are certified teachers which mean they are qualified to teach in the state of Georgia. They also have training in NovaNet courseware which is the software the students use to take their online classes. The courses the students take are self-paced but teachers are on site in case any student has trouble with a certain subject and need one on one tutoring. Currently, there are 80 students at the Fannin County MECHS.

The Fannin County MECHS is a charter school for students ages 16-21 but anyone older that 21 who wants to get a regular high school diploma instead of a GED and just needs one credit or may just need to take the graduation test could be eligible for a waiver. The MECHS only offers a regular high school diploma and not a GED.

The high school diploma the students can receive is a one track diploma. In 2008, the Georgia Department of Education made it where all students receiving a diploma after the 2008-2009 school year would have a one track diploma.

The Fannin County MECHS is located in the main entrance of the Fannin County High School and is open from 4 to 9 Monday through Thursday.

Site Administrator Lorie Chastain says of the MECHS,

“It’s a great program for students who are self disciplined and for who maybe day school isn’t an option.”