‘Part of the family’: Morris Innovative High School celebrates final graduating class

Published 8:00 pm Tuesday, June 1, 2021

When Tania Resendiz arrived in the United States from Mexico two years ago with virtually no English abilities, “I never thought I would have graduated,” she said at Morris Innovative High School’s commencement Friday — but not only did she graduate, she was valedictorian.

Resendiz, who is headed to Dalton State College, “never gave up,” and benefited from “lots of help” from Morris Innovative’s faculty and staff, she said. “It’s hard to be new in a country, but your dreams have to be bigger than your fears.”

Roderico Nolasco Macario considered dropping out of high school numerous times because he worked at a carpet company “day and night,” often 60 or more hours a week in addition to his academic studies, he said. “I have to support my mom, who is sick, back in my home country (of Guatemala), and nobody else can help but me.”

“I wanted to quit” school, but Morris Innovative’s staff “told me to just keep going,” he said. His time at Morris Innovative was “a really good experience, and the teachers are really helpful; I felt part of the family.”

Miguel Gonzalez, a teacher in Dalton Public Schools’ Newcomer Academy, shared his story of living in a ramshackle house and attending a one-room school in Mexico, but rising to be an award-winning educator in Dalton, and the tale made a major impression on Nolasco Macario: “That helped me, and I kept that dream in my mind.”

He came to the U.S. “for a better future,” and he’s well on his way after graduating high school with honors (3.0 or higher grade point average), he said. “It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible, so don’t give up.”

Friday’s commencement at the Wink Theatre was “a bittersweet moment for all of us, because this is the last graduating class at Morris,” said Principal Pat Hunt. “We’re very proud of the 41 graduates tonight,” 21 of whom graduated with honors, 14 of whom completed their graduation requirements in January, six of whom were juniors who graduated in four years and five of whom were dual enrolled in college courses.

Beginning with the 2021-22 academic year, Dalton Public Schools students in grades six and seven will attend the new Hammond Creek Middle School, while students in grades eight and nine will attend Dalton Junior High School, which will be on the current Dalton Middle School campus. The Dalton Academy, also on the current Dalton Middle School campus, will be one of two public high schools in the city, along with Dalton High, which will also be a 10-12 grade school. Morris will be closed, and students will choose between The Dalton Academy and Dalton High for their high school education.

In 2009, Dalton Public Schools transformed the high school credit recovery program into Morris Innovative High School, and “the school provided an opportunity for around 100 at-risk students to earn the credits they needed online with teacher support, allowing them to get back on track to graduate,” according to Superintendent Tim Scott. In 2011, the school grew to almost 300 students, and while Dalton Public Schools required students behind on credits to attend, more and more students came by choice, drawn by the more-intimate environment and personal attention from teachers and staff.

If not for Morris Innovative, Hannah Cox “probably wouldn’t have graduated,” she said. When she first moved to Morris Innovative, she was “terrified,” but she quickly fell in love with the school, so she remained there, even after she quickly caught up on enough credits to rejoin Dalton High School if she wished.

Staying at Morris Innovative was an “easy decision,” as while her grades “went through the roof,” she also learned more beyond academics, she said. “I learned from the people, and I learned more here than any other school my whole life.”

In 2012, the school celebrated its first 34 graduates, and that same year, the school moved to the former Fort Hill School campus, according to Scott. During its existence, more than 700 students graduated from Morris Innovative.

The Newcomer Academy for students new to the country has been instrumental in the graduation of so many, as it was “where so many of us learned how to say our first words in English,” said Andrea Velasquez, a 2021 Morris Innovative graduate who started her academic career in the Newcomer Academy. “We’ve all had to overcome obstacles, but we’re here (at graduation), showing the world we’re capable of doing anything we want.”

Fellow Newcomer Academy alumna and 2021 Morris Innovative graduate Nicole Rocio Guerrero came to America five years ago “afraid,” but she overcame her “fear” of a new language to deliver a speech Friday and graduate in the top five of her class, she said. Graduation is “the end of an era, but also a new beginning for the class of 2021, (and) the door is open for us to find a new future.”

As they move into those futures, it’s critical that these graduates “focus on the small things, (because) small habits done consistently and habitually over time make a big difference,” said Matt Evans, chairman of the Dalton Board of Education. “Don’t overlook the fundamentals everything else in your life is built upon,” because, if neglected, those “basics can sink the highest of hopes.”

These graduates are prepared to fulfill their future ambitions because of the caring and dedicated faculty and staff at Morris Innovative, Evans said, noting, “They have done whatever it takes.”

Cox is particularly indebted to her Spanish teacher, Roschelle Bautista, as her “loving heart” allowed Cox to excel in Spanish more than any other class, she said. She even received the “most improved” award in Spanish II.

If not for Bautista, “I would have given up,” Cox said. “She was my motivation.”

At Morris Innovative, staff members “look for the best in students, (and) I got to know myself” at the school, Velasquez said. “It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.”