The Bartow County College and Career Academy continues to move forward towards its opening in the fall.

At a recent work session, Paul Sabin, the academy’s principal and CEO told the Bartow County School Board that work continues as the date for the start of classes draws near.

“We’ve had a lot of action going on with [the academy] within a short period of time,” Sabin said. “I’m pleased to comment that we are well on our way to opening the fall of 2013-2014 school year; so, we’re making progress.”

Sabin said registration for the academy recently concluded with students from all three county schools registering.

From Adairsville High 134 students signed up, from Woodland High, 110 and 95 from Cass High.

Sabin said the process for readying the academy for students is expected to be a “seamless process.”

The academy will be housed in the old Cass High School on Grassdale Road and Sabin said phase one of the construction phase has begun with architectural drawings being received via bids.

Sabin said construction and renovation projects are funded through a $3.4 million grant the school system received.

The second phase of projects includes improvements to the school’s infrastructure and giving the school a “face-lift,” Sabin said.

During the same work session, which was held March 11, Superintendent John Harper told the board that a new security measure is being added to schools throughout the county.

Harper said emergency buttons are being installed at all schools that, upon being pressed, will alert 911 and send a message to all classrooms that there is an emergency.

“This is just one of the little measures we have been working on in our buildings to … alert 911 and to let our staff know that we have a real emergency in our building that needs to be taken care of with the procedures that we have to protect themselves,” Harper said.

In addition to the emergency buttons, Harper said Chief School Resource Officer Dan Knowles has been conducting safety evaluations at each school.