Freshmen get own academy in Cobb

More than 800 freshmen in Cobb County will occupy a new facility just for them when school starts Monday.

The county school system celebrated the grand opening of North Cobb High School’s new Ninth Grade Academy on Thursday.

The freshman academy is intended to relieve crowding at the high school, which opened in 1958. It's also supposed to ease ninth graders from middle school into high school. They'll eat lunch at the academy and take the majority of core classes there, joining older students for elective courses and activities.