Rockbridge Elementary School

Rockbridge Elementary School is located at 6066 Rockbridge School Road, one-tenth of a mile from the intersection of Rockbridge Road and Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross. The school was named for its location near Rockbridge Road.

Rockbridge Road paralleled an Indian trail called the Hightower Trail, which led from Calhoun to Augusta, Georgia. The word “Rockbridge” came from a location on the Yellow River where a rock shoal allowed travelers to cross the river easily. This area near Highway 124 became known as Rockbridge and has played an important part in the history of Gwinnett County. The Rockbridge site was the first bearing used by surveyors in the area. Later, there was a Rockbridge post office. Rockbridge Road was cut out sometime in the 1820s.

Rockbridge Elementary School was originally built in 1966 as a result of growth in population in the area. Rockbridge’s first principal, W. Carson Britt, was a descendant of one of the original and prominent families of Gwinnett County. W. C. Britt Elementary was named for his uncle. He opened the school in 1966 and served as its principal until ill health forced him to retire in 1974.

The school’s enrollment was beyond capacity even before it opened. The original school had 11 classrooms, but portable classrooms had to be used even on the first day of school. Construction began that first year on 11 new classrooms.

The school originally served grades one through eight, but over a period of three years from 1967 to 1970, the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades were moved to Lilburn Middle School. Since 1971, the school has housed grades one through five. Kindergarten classes are also part of the school population.

A unique feature of the original school building was its round orientation. The school hallway was circular and classrooms were located off of it... much like a wheel  with spokes. While this was an interesting feature it made it difficult to expand the school facility to house its growing student population.

And growth has been a key element in Rockbridge Elementary School’s history. In 1976, all the fifth grade classes had to be housed at Lilburn Middle School to relieve overcrowding. A new addition to the school was added in 1987, and another in 1989 in an effort to keep up with the growing number of children in the district. As of the early 2000s, the school consisted of 44 classrooms in four interconnected buildings and portable classrooms also were used to house additional students and teachers. In fact, from 1966 until 2014, there have been only four years in which portable classrooms have NOT been part of the landscape at Rockbridge.

Over the years, the school district has built a number of schools in order to offer relief to Rockbridge, including Nesbit Elementary and Meadowcreek Elementary.

The school district’s 2012–2017 Building Program, funded by the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for education called for a replacement school to be build for Rockbridge Elementary School. The 2013–2014 school year was an interesting year on campus as a new school was being built while students were still attending school in the existing structure. However, construction moved along well and the new school, which was slated to open in 2015 actually opened in August of 2014. The new 32-classroom building was a 154,034 square foot facility that cost $17,698,689. The school community held a dedication ceremony for its new building on October 19, 2014. It was a festive event celebrating the school’s rich history and setting the stage for an exciting future.

Rockbridge is a school that celebrates diversity, with 96% of its students being minority and over 40 different languages spoken. The first teacher for English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) was hired in 1988; as of 2015, the school had nine teachers for this program. The school and community are proud of the various cultures represented at the school.

The original mascot, chosen by a vote of students, was the roadrunner. The school colors of blue and white were also chosen by the students. However, in the 2010–2011 school year, the school mascot changed to the Mustang to be consistent with the other schools (except for Radloff Middle School) in the cluster.

In November of 2016, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary.. For more than 50 years Rockbridge has served the students and families of this community and has delivered on The Promise of Gwinnett.