Learn More About Haw Creek
Learn More About Haw Creek
Haw Creek is excited to welcome you to our school and our story. Our school is a unique two-story building designed to mirror our neighbor middle school, Lakeside, just across the street. We are located just off of GA Highway 20 behind Beaver Toyota right on the edge of the county line.
We hope you will connect with us through our website, social media, or come in to visit. We have come a long way from our roots in the county and look forward to continuing to build a lasting legacy within our community.
Haw Creek's Admin Team looks forward to meeting you and learning more about how we can serve your student and your family. Principal, Dr. Ashley Johnessee, joined Haw Creek in 2022. Returning to her elementary education roots from over 12 years at Lambert High School, Dr. J reminds students to "smile and make a new friend" and loves being back with the heart of learning in elementary school.
Mrs. Berkley Fain, Assistant Principal grades 3-5, joined Haw Creek in 2024. Her background as an elementary teacher began in Gwinnett county, where she was named Teacher of the Year and a member of the Top 25 in Gwinnett before she joined Forsyth County Schools as a teacher and Instructional Coach at Vickery Creek Elementary. Mrs. Fain most recently served as an Assistant Administrator at Brookwood Elementary and brings her strong instructional background and enduring passion for Leader in Me to Haw Creek. We are excited to welcome Mrs. Fain to our team!
Mr. Barlow joined Haw Creek in 2024 from Midway Elementary school and previously served as a teacher and assistant administrator in middle school. Mr. Barlow is a great connector for students and families and we love having him at Haw Creek.
Mrs. Avery, Assistant Administrator, serves in a variety of capacities supporting students and families. Her background as a Special Education teacher and department chair have been incredibly helpful to our school in implementing an MTSS process supporting all student learning.
Haw Creek has FIVE Therapy Dogs who serve students and staff on our campus! Therapy Dogs are a classification of dog who, per the American Kennel Club’s Guidelines, have completed specific training. Our dogs have all completed Basic Obedience, Advanced Off Leash, and Canine Good Citizen classes. Each team has earned the Canine Good Citizen certification and they are expected to continue ongoing training and annual re-certifications as reflected in our handler agreement and commitments.
Unlike service dogs, who are expected to perform a service directly related to the disability of the handler, such as detecting seizures or guiding a visually impaired person, Therapy Dogs are expected to be obedient, under the control of their handler at all times, and, most of all, friendly! Where the work of a service dog may be interrupted by well-meaning people wanting to pet the dogs, therapy dogs do their BEST work when they are being petted. To make sure you don’t interrupt working team, or that you know the appropriate way to greet a dog in any instance, it is always best to ask the handler for permission before approaching the animal.
Haw Creek's Pack remain on leash on campus and may be seen at arrival, throughout campus, in classrooms, and during recess. Our pups look forward to welcoming you to campus and serving our community each year!
Learn more about our Husky Pack Treats on the school webpage here!
Haw Creek Elementary School
Haw Creek Elementary School currently functions under our Core Values of Empower, Joy, Growth, Team and Connect. To make our values into our work, we have created our Belief Statements to reflect how we put those values into our work which have built our Commitments to Excellence to demonstrate our beliefs in action. As we transition into a Leader in Me school, Haw Creek is working with our staff, community, and STUDENTS to build our Mission and Vision statements in 2025. We hope you'll take part in this process - details will be shared with our families through our Husky Herald newsletter each month. Stay tuned!
Haw Creek has built specific goals to improve our school this year that guide the work of our professional learning and school-wide initiatives to foster positive outcomes for all students.
We wanted to share them with our families so you can recognize some of this work in our conversations, communication, and celebrations this year.
You can help us with these goals by partnering with the school through family events, conferences, volunteer opportunities and joining PTO! We welcome your insight and collaboration as we work to have our best year YET at Haw Creek!
To help families navigate daily operations at Haw Creek, we have created a Student Handbook. You may CLICK HERE for the full resource that has been updated to reflect the new Distraction Free Policy for Forsyth County Schools.
Please do not hesitate to reach out for specific questions, but we hope this resource assists you in navigating Haw Creek this year!
Morning Carline Reminders - Front of School
Please help us maintain a safe and efficient car line by following these instructions daily. Click here for the instructions with a drop off map. Cars entering from ECHOLS RD should ALWAYS go to our front school car line. This helps us avoid intersection incidents with our buses and, in the near future, middle school morning athletics.
When in either car line, please help us efficiently and safely exit vehicles by practicing these steps with your students:
Make sure your SAFETY LOCKS are off and your doors are unlocked when you arrive at the curb.
Have your child seated on the right hand side (passenger) so they can quickly exit the car.
If your child still needs assistance at this time, please roll down the window so our car line support team can step in while they are still learning.
Don't forget to unbuckle, get all needed items, and say goodbye BEFORE you get to the curb.
Morning Carline Reminders - Bus Lanes
Our back parking lot will not be open for any car rider drop-off until all the buses are cleared. This is usually around 7:20 am and we will flip the sign at the back entrance when we are ready for drop off. We are asking that our car riders coming from Echols Road please use the front car rider line. Car riders coming from Samples, if the back lot is open, you may use that lot. We will continue to monitor this situation to ensure a safe drop-off for our families and our staff. GO SLOWLY and BE SAFE - do not pass the car in front of you if their child is taking a little longer. Let’s have patience and grace to keep everyone safe.
Afternoon Carline Reminders
Afternoon carline is ONLY available in the front of the building. Due to changes in the pick up of Mashburn Elementary students, HCES families should ONLY TURN RIGHT out of our parking lot to Echols Road. Turning left will inevitably lead to you getting stuck in the carline for Mashburn afternoon release which begins lining up around 1:30pm. Avoid the line - turn RIGHT to Echols. Thanks!
Lakeside Middle School is NOT a part of our drop off process. Please help us keep our car line flowing smoothly and safely and DO NOT park in their parking lot and attempt to cross over to walk to school. With both car lines open, dropping off in front or back of the school is a smoother and safer process for our SROs and students to start the day.
The county requires new medical forms EVERY school year for students with a listed medical condition. With each new school year, it is necessary to update all medical files in the school clinic. If your child has a medical condition (i.e. allergy, asthma, seizure, diabetes, ADHD, or other specialized care) that needs to be treated at school, please have these forms completed and signed by your physician over the summer and turn them in at Roundup or the first day of school.
Remember that in order to carry emergency medication you must also have the “Authorization for Student to Carry” form completed by the physician as well. If your child has a health condition on file that has been resolved, please let the school nurse know.
You can locate these forms on the FCSS web site by clicking here: Health Forms
PARENTS - ALLERGY ACTION PLANS must be completed for students with any allergy that requires medical intervention. It is critically important that we receive this information for students with a history of anaphylaxis to make sure that we have a plan on file to provide intervention as needed. Please make sure to have your physician complete the appropriate health forms and return them to The Clinic ASAP! Safety is always our number one priority!