In October, Swift School submitted a revised campus layout to the City of Roswell requesting the approval of a site plan amendment effectively altering buildings, incorporating an adjacent property, along with the change in how students and faculty will enter the 5.51-acre site located at 300 Grimes Bridge Road.
The Roswell City Council will be reviewing the site plan amendment and the reduction of planned access points into the campus during their December 13, 2021, regular meeting.
The property was rezoned to CIV (Civic and Institutional) and received site plan approval for the Swift School site in 2018. Since then, the property has been developed with a 35,000 square foot school building along with another 7,000 square feet containing an existing classroom and cafeteria.
According to City documents, the revised plan includes another 30,000 square feet of additional space for a new classroom, gymnasium, and larger cafeteria. Additionally, the new plan indicates removing a secondary access point from Dogwood Road and a new location for the existing access point from Grimes Bridge Road. Finally, a new stacking plan for when cars enter the site has been revised to accommodate 109 vehicles in the stacking lane.
In a letter presented by Swift School’s representatives, AEC stated that the changes to the site plan are related to the recent Georgia Department of Transportation plans for Ga 400 (SR 400 Express Lane Project Improvements), which creates the opportunity to maintain the property entrance on Grimes Bridge Road by relocating it further from the intersection of Dogwood Road. The proposed GDOT work will also expand the intersection at Dogwood Road and Grimes Bridge Road, allowing for a new left-turn lane on Grimes Bride, creating a safer ingress and egress from the school site onto Grimes Bridge Road.
According to the GDOT website, the procurement process to select a developer for the SR 400 Express Lanes was canceled in August 2021, but the Project has not been canceled. Georgia DOT continues to view the project as an essential priority for Georgia and is exploring options to advance the project.
The Swift School website states that the school currently serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade with dyslexia and related language-based learning differences. Swift School credits its tremendous growth over the past two decades stems from both an increased awareness of dyslexia, which affects up to 20% of students and is the most common language-related learning difference. Documents submitted to the City stated that the current enrollment of Swift School is 137 students with a projected maximum student capacity of 210 students.
