Five Forks Middle School

     Five Forks Middle School was named after its predecessor, the old Five Forks School, and the community of Five Forks in the 1800’s. Gwinnett County had an abundance of small unincorporated communities. At the focal point of one such area, five roads met. One road went northeast past a school, one west to Gloster, another east to Snellville, another north to Lawrenceville, and yet another south to Mountain Park. Since the school and community were centered around the meeting of these five points, they gradually became known to the local population as Five Forks. The Five Forks intersection existed for 100 years. With the opening of Brookwood High School in 1981, the northeast branch was closed and rerouted.

    Five Forks Middle School is located on the northeast fork now called River Drive. Its doors opened in January of 1979. Five Forks was built as a result of rapid growth in the western and central portions of Gwinnett County. Existing schools which provided students for the new attendance zone were Trickum, Sweetwater, and Snellville middle schools.

     Five Forks has operated at or above capacity most of its years. Mobile learning cottages have been a common feature of the Five Forks landscape for many years. The opening of Shiloh Middle School in 1982, J.R. Richards Middle School in 1987, and Crews Middle School in 1997 helped to alleviate the crowded school. Today, Five Forks Middle School is home to a richly diverse student body of more than 1200 students.

     The Five Forks Middle School mascot, the Phantom, was selected in a student contest while the students were attending double session at Trickum Middle School. The students submitted original ideas for the name of the mascot, its appearance, and its colors. After much debate and discussion, the student body voted and selected the silver and black Phantom. In 1997, the Five Forks community adopted the Bronco as its mascot as well as the colors of the Brookwood Cluster.  Five Forks is a proud member of “Bronco Nation.”  

     Throughout the years, Five Forks Middle School has been recognized for academic achievement. In 1983-84, 1987-88, and 1999-2000, Five Forks was named a Gwinnett County School of Excellence and/or a Georgia School of Excellence. In 1988, Five Forks was selected as a National School of Excellence. In addition to those academic accolades, Five Forks Middle School most recently earned recognition from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement as both a Highest Performing School and a Greatest Gains School under Georgia’s Single Statewide Accountability System. 

     Five Forks Middle School continues to pursue and achieve excellence in all areas with a laser focus on teaching and learning. The staff, which has consistently maintained a very low turnover rate throughout the years, is dedicated to our three big "rocks" of Connections, Literacy, and Rigor. Everyone at the school is focused on achieving its vision of “Highest levels of learning for all students in all classes to create rich, limitless opportunities for the future," and this commitment is evident in the successes of our students in their future academic endeavors and beyond.