History of our School   

Mrs. Shirley Davis-Chapman, principal, greeted 884 students on August 29, 1983, as Berkeley Lake Elementary School formally opened its doors.  Joining Mrs. Davis-Chapman in the front office was her former co-worker at Knight Elementary, Miss Yvonne Fincher.  The staff (40 teachers) worked all weekend to prepare the school for opening.  Located inside the city limits of Berkeley Lake, the school derived most of its students as a result of rezoning from Peachtree Elementary and B.B. Harris schools.  The community of Berkeley Lake welcomed their new residents with a reception at the Lakeside Chapel on August 26th.

During that 1st year the enrollment continued to grow and concluded with a total of 1089 students.  The "Berkeley Bear" became the official mascot of the school with the students' wearing T-shirts featuring bears, the school's newspaper being named "The Berkeley Beehive" and the faculty communiqué being entitled "The Bear Essentials".

Each student planted a flower bulb on the school grounds, helping the school earn the Clean School Award presented by Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful.  The PTA, under the direction of its first presidents, Mr. & Mrs. Harold Cremer, had earned the 950 bulbs as a bonus to its fund raiser for the school.

In November of the following year Governor Joe Frank Harris was filmed with students in the library for television public service spots to promote American Education Week.  Yvonne Fincher became Assistant Principal and with the enrollment growing, Mrs. Judi Rogers joined the office part-time during the year.  The faculty had increased to 56.

Berkeley Lake students won at the state level in Future Problem Solving and Odyssey of the Mind.  Students were also winners in county writing contests.  The 5th grade FOCUS classes built a school nature trail on the grounds to help the school again earn the Clean School Award from Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful.

The "Read-In" in the spring brought many dignitaries from throughout the area into classrooms to read to students during National Library Week.  "The Bear Prints" became the official title of the school newspaper.

The 1985-86 year began with 1238 students, 68 staff members and 9 portable classrooms.  Work on a new addition to the building was begun in March.  Ms. Fincher returned to front office duty.

The Art Club assembled a colorful felt flag designed to represent the school at an exhibit at the Twin Towers Building during Youth Art Month.  In February the poems of Berkeley Lake students were featured in the local newspaper to express the feelings of the 5th graders about the Challenger space shuttle tragedy.

Mrs. Barbara Lunsford joined the other 111 total staff members as Assistant Principal for the 1986-87 school year.  There were 12 new classrooms on an added wing, 1 portable classroom and 1343 students.  With a new addition completed at Peachtree Elementary, 259 students were rezoned there.

J.R. Proud was the new Assistant Principal in 1987, and Debra Holmes was in the front office.  There were 60 faculty members and approximately 1130 students.  In celebration of the Constitution's Bicentennial the student body buried a time capsule by the flag pole in front of the building.  The box containing artifacts from 1987 along with every child's name is to be opened in 100 years.

Four portable classrooms were added to the scene as the 1988-89 school year began with about 1220 students and 66 faculty.  Dr. Jean Schultz joined the front office.  Rezoning occurred in the spring to fill the new Chattahoochee School which opened in the fall of 1989.  More rezoning occurred in 2004 with the opening of the Brent Chesney School.

Dr. Schultz has since left BLES and Lorraine Sparks has joined the crew.  Principal Dr. JoAnn Brown left in 2003, and Principal Leigh Westcott has moved in! In 2009, Dr. FA McLeod became our principal.  

Teachers of the Year have been (ordered from most recent): Angie Smith, Janie Doroff, Kathy Oldham, Julie Harstead, Richard Cohn, Jenny Rindt, Kathy Bentley, Mary Brooks Sewell, Lynn Byrd, Jane Bundy, Katrina Yurko, Debbie Jackson, Gail Davis, DeAnn Crawford, Marion Sebastian, Charlotte Bankston, Mary Garner, Debra Moody, Patricia Mezoff, and Katie Trapani.  Teacher of the Year for  2005-06 is Alice Baines, 4th grade classroom teacher.

Adapted from History: Berkeley Lake Elementary, May, 1989, Marion M. Sebastion, Historian