The doors of Hayes Elementary opened in the fall of 1993. The school was named after Joe F. Hayes and his brother Harold Hayes, who each were educators for over 40 years in Cobb County. This longevity in education is reflected in the ten staff members who have been at Hayes since it opened—Susan Croft, Rodney Echols, Maureen Evans, Marsha McCleary, Missy Owen, Becky Ransom, Patti Sheevy, Lynn Teague, Susan Tibbitts, and Susan Velardi.

There have been many changes since Hayes Elementary opened. The building itself has had a 16-classroom addition and a closed-in breezeway as well as the addition of four learning cottages. The most recent and significant change, though, is not how Hayes Elementary looks on the outside but how the school looks on the inside. Students are learning in a smaller, more focused learning environment. As a “school-within-a-school,” Hayes is divided into two smaller learning communities—a kindergarten through second grade (primary) school, and a third grade through fifth grade (intermediate) school. Each school houses about 550 students and is overseen by a principal and assistant principal. The smaller units allow the staffs of each school to develop more focused learning programs appropriate for the respective grade levels, all while building a stronger sense of school community among the students as well as increasing parental involvement. Some additional benefits of the school-within-a-school concept include:

• Collaboration and sharing of strengths from two different principals for a powerful effect on the school and community;
• A more involved, active, and accessible school administration to support the teaching staff, students, and parents;
• More effective management of curriculum;
• More effective management of student behavior;
• More targeted focus on the needs of the specific students, understanding that the needs of primary students differ from those of intermediate students.

Not only is Hayes Elementary a school-within-a-school, it is a 100% feeder school, meaning 100% of Hayes’ students will go to Pine Mountain Middle School and Kennesaw Mountain High School. Many students will be with their classmates from the day they cross the threshold of kindergarten to the day they walk across the stage at graduation. Since the administration, teachers, and staffs of Hayes, Pine Mountain, and Kennesaw Mountain are working closely together, students will be given a strong, standards-based education throughout their thirteen years in the cluster.