CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. -- More than 1,300 Cherokee County School District students took advantage of the summer classes offered in June.

Roughly 300 high school students participated in a credit recovery program to retake the classes they did not pass during the school year. Another 450 high schoolers flocked to Cherokee and Woodstock high schools to earn credits by taking certain classes for the first time.

Canton Elementary School STEM Academy and Oak Grove Elementary School Fine Arts Academy offered Title I program sessions, which were available to children from low-income families. About 200 elementary and middle school students participated.

Approximately 100 special education students attended a program just for them at Canton Elementary School, and more than 200 rising high school freshmen took advantage of a bridge program for remediation in core subjects.

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Chattahoochee Technical College has named Melanie Lambert as head of its Chattahoochee Tech Foundation.

Lambert, a Cartersville resident, is responsible for operating the foundation, which provides scholarships and grants for students, and financial support for programs.

She comes to CTC from Emory University, where she served as senior associate director of stewardship and donor relations. She has also worked in the development office at Reinhardt University, where she earned her communications degree.

For her first order of business, Lambert plans to educate CTC students about the opportunities the foundation offers them.

"When students find out that their scholarships are funds provided by people and businesses in our community, they want to show their gratitude," she said. "I want the foundation to provide them with every opportunity to connect with donors."

(WXIA) -- Georgia Connections Academy recently held a graduation ceremony for its Class of 2014.

Many classmates met for the very first time during the event at the Gwinnett Center.

"We are very proud of our graduates," GCA lead principal Heather Robinson said in a release. Altogether, the Class of 2014 secured $1.33 million in college scholarship offers.

Emily McClure of Columbus is GCA's valedictorian. She will attend Georgia College and State University on the Zell Miller Scholarship in the fall.

Learn more about Georgia Connections Academy, the state's free virtual charter school for students in grades K-12, at georgiaconnectionsacademy.com.

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