Fawn Sheffield serves on the Facility Taskforce for Sankofa Montessori School. Her responsibilities included the completion of the SCSC (State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia) application and interview with the rest of the Board, to obtain charter approval to open doors, of the first tuition-free Montessori school in the metro-Atlanta area. Upon the charter being approved, she assisted with site acquisition, program management, and renovations of the property to ensure the students would have a place to learn, by the first day of school. This was no easy task, as all of the proposed school locations were unavailable and the process of locating the perfect parcel had to begin again.
Fawn worked with the Executive Director of the school, Project Management Team and broker to visit potential buildings/property, review contracts, scope of work, floor plans, landscaping documents, etc. In addition, she also networked with community leaders (Forest Park Mayor, Clayton County Water Authority, Forest Park Fire Marshal, Clayton County Economic Development Officer, Ricky Clark (Forest Park City Manager), Jonesboro Mayor, Mr. Michael Hightower, and other Clayton County officials, etc.) to obtain support in Sankofa Montessori opening its doors.
As a board member, Fawn attends monthly meetings to provide facility updates and ensure alignment of goals. Facility goals center around the physical building, surrounding grounds, interior and exterior design and any equipment acquired by the school. In addition, the Facility Committee is responsible for:
Assessing the operational condition of physical facilities, determine improvements needed and set priorities, determine cost and develop a timeline for implementation.
Fawn Sheffield is on the Park Pride vision planning steering committee for the Four Corners Park located in the Peoplestown neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. Park Pride is a non-profit organization that is separate from but works closely with the City of Atlanta Department of Parks & Recreation. The steering committee of committed residents and stakeholders serves as liaisons to and representatives of the community and works closely with the visioning team throughout the process. The steering committee helps to develop and implement a public engagement strategy as well as participate in design discussions and decisions. Park Pride’s visioning staff and the steering committee analyze community input and balance it with site conditions, accepted industry best practices, and applicable laws and standards to develop the final list of recommendations.