Community
North Manor Community
What it took to build a neighborhood
At first glance, you might think that North Manor is an idyllic, tree-lined community with a heart of gold. And after spending some time there, you’d know you were right.
Turn onto East Jones Bridge Road from Peachtree Highway and suddenly the atmosphere changes. Almost immediately, the scenery shifts from strip malls and restaurants to a picturesque neighborhood peppered with community centers and churches.
Despite the current climate, families are still outside taking advantage of the winding sidewalks and sharing a neighborly wave. The schools and playgrounds are currently closed, but on normal spring days, happy children would be making what they’ll later describe as their childhood memories.
North Manor memories
This could be any town in “Mayberry, America,” but what you don’t know is that if it weren’t for the residents of this little community, Peachtree Corners would look very different today. Back in the 1980s when the houses were first being built in North Manor, it was still a rural area surrounding what is now modern-day Peachtree Corners.
It was considered a transient community, and houses went for the high $70s to low $80s. Most of the families moved from the Northeast for jobs in the quickly developing
Southern hub of Atlanta. Tech Park had already been built, and young families were flocking to the “city in the forest” in large numbers.
Jim Gaffey has one of these families. Because most of the residents in North Manor were transplants, no one knew each other. There was no infrastructure in place, no main roads to cut off driving distance and no recreational facilities. Gaffey knew that he’d moved to a rural area; finding an old moonshine still in one of the creeks behind his house confirmed just how far out in the country he really was.
One of the biggest obstacles he encountered was the schools in which he was to send his two young boys. The roads were still being measured by a horse and buggy journey, and the closest schools available were Summerour Middle School and Norcross High School.
Gaffey met with the Superintendant of Schools at the time to address the issue, but instead of reassurance, he was told: “We’ll never build schools in Peachtree Corners just to have them left empty when you all move on, just like you did in Dunwoody.”
He’d already tried and failed twice to start a swim club for the North Manor community, but it was hard to get anything accomplished in a neighborhood full of strangers.
A proposed road leads to a mission
Then came the big announcement that changed it all. The “East Jones Bridge project” is what caught Gaffey’s eye. East Jones Bridge Road was proposed to become the major highway to cut through in Peachtree Corners, just like the modern-day Holcomb Bridge Road.
It would have sliced the North Manor community in half with a major highway running through it. Then they’d add a Planned Unit Development (PUD) modeled after similar neighborhoods in Columbia, Md.
“I looked at the original plans in the local media and saw red,” Gaffey recalled. “I’d just moved from New Jersey where there was no thought behind the plans — they were just putting up buildings anywhere they would fit — and I felt like it was following me down South.”
At the time, there was no real sense of community in the neighborhood, no one to stick up for the little guys and no way of finding out when the hearings would be held. The writing was on the wall for North Manor community just a mere three years after it was built.
Gaffey knew from his experiences in the Northeast that the East Jones Bridge project and subsequent developments would decimate the community.
Connections + contacts = success
Obviously, that’s not the case when you look at the community today. So how did a collection of neighbors who didn’t know each other build the stately North Manor that we know today? The answer is churches.
The residents of the community banded together at the many different congregations in the area, such as Peachtree Corners Baptist Church and Simpsonwood United Methodist Church. “Then a unique thing happened,” Gaffey said. “We started to help one another.”
With the solidarity of the community growing in the churches, they had a fighting chance. By the time they held the first town meeting at the Good Age Building, it was packed with families ready to protest the new building plans.
The grassroots campaign was started, but they had little time to block the vote and almost no outlet to plead their case. The group found two members of the commission and Gaffey met with them to try and influence their vote without success.
Then, a member of the community they’d gotten to know from congregation events, Scott Ferguson, won one of the seats on the commission. He became the key to the success of their campaign. Now they had a powerful member of the campaign on their side — and inside information about when the votes were being held.
By the time the plan was put to a vote, the turnout was far beyond what they’d ever imagined. The North Manor community collected signatures and raised $96,000, all through good, old fashioned door-to-door campaigning.
They won the day and successfully blocked the project that would have changed the face of Peachtree Corners forever. The Linfield subdivision never would have been built, and Simpson Elementary or Pinckneyville Middle schools never would have existed. Jones Bridge Park wouldn’t be the tranquil place for people to escape that it is; instead, it would be a loud eyesore of a bridge. And, of course, the North Manor community wouldn’t be the beautiful oasis it is today.
Marin swimmers treated to burgers 
Jim Gaffey and his wife Carol, a career teacher that was assigned to Simpson Elementary School on day one. 
North Manor home circa 1980s 
First North Manor swim team, the Marlins 
At the bus stop in North Manor, circa 1984 
First soccer team out of North Manor 
Marlins with medals 
Long time resident of North Manor and well known real estate agent Nancy Minor.
The start of PCSR
Once Gaffey had a platform on which to stand, the neighbors were able to successfully start the North Manor Swim and Racquet Club. Today, you know it as the Peachtree Corners Swim and Racquet Club (PCSR) — a staple to the community.
“The club founders, all North Manor residents, were involved in blocking multiple large-scale developments in the early 80s that would have dramatically impacted the area,” said Sonny Peiper, a board member of PCSR, as he recalled the swim club’s humble past.
Peiper and many other North Manor residents are excited to celebrate the 35th year of the Waverunners swim team. You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter at #Waverunners35.
The swim club is an intricate part of North Manor’s charm. While other areas worship on Fridays, residents here are dazzled by the “Thursday night lights” and all that it means to their history.
North Manor creates a legacy
Nancy Minor, a real estate agent who has lived in the community since its first inception, recalls that “buying in the neighborhood was a leap of faith.” Residents of North Manor first fell in love with the forests surrounding the neighborhood, the creeks where their children might play and the idea that one day it might be a strong community.
Today, with 262 homes, the residents can marvel at having some of the most desirable schools in the county, top-notch community amenities, vibrant bus stops and sidewalks filled with smiling faces. Now, because of the affluent subdivisions that have slowly popped up around the community, North Manor will be protected from any future development plans that might jeopardize all that the residents have accomplished.
It was the neighborly bond with each other that became the most important factor in transforming the North Manor community from a rural afterthought into one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the metro Atlanta area. When Minor is asked if she’ll ever leave North Manor, she simply says, “I love my neighborhood.”
The original residents have lived there long enough to witness the evolution of the neighborhood. Now, their children are grown and looking for homes of their own, and there’s something comforting about watching them try to find communities just like the one their parents have built. ■
Olympian Jasmine Jones, a standout alumna of Greater Atlanta Christian School (Class of 2020), returned to her alma mater on September 12 to speak to and inspire the next generation of students there.
GAC staff interviewed Jones and also took questions from the students during a Q&A session that included every grade level.
As a member of the U.S. Olympic team and a 12-time Georgia state individual champion during her time at GAC, Jasmine’s visit was a homecoming filled with motivation and reflection. She spoke passionately to the students about the importance of perseverance, goal-setting, and embracing challenges, drawing from her journey from GAC to the University of Southern California and the global stage of the Olympics.
Jones qualified for the Paris Olympics on June 30 and made the U.S. team in women’s 400m hurdles after placing third. She went on to place fourth in the women’s 400m hurdles final at the Paris games.
Students and staff at GAC cheered Jones on during the Olympics. And they cheered her again as she took to the school’s stage to address the audience. Before and after the event, Jones posed for photos, gave high-fives and took time connect with some of GAC’s enthusiastic students and faculty.
Her words — and her accomplishments — left a powerful impression on the crowd, reminding everyone of the heights that can be achieved with dedication and faith.
For more about GACS, visit greateratlantachristian.org.
The renowned performers wowed the audience with a thrilling presentation of dance, drama and fun.
Staff, students and board members of the International Charter Academy of Georgia were given a short-but-thrilling taste of Kabuki when dancers from Miyabiya Japan stopped by the school on September 16 for a special performance.
Offering a preview of the full show they’d prepared for center stage at JapanFest 2024, the troop presented a special short section of a dance titled “Renjishi: The Two Lions.”
Considered one of the most famous pieces in Kabuki, Renjishi is known for its powerful choreography and dramatic expression. It tells the story of the relationship between a father lion and his young son. The powerful movements, dramatic expressions and percussive sound effects symbolize the passing of strength and legacy from one generation to the next.
How the show came about
Miyabiya Japan last appeared at JapanFest in 2016 to great acclaim. This year, with the excitement of their return, the performers made plans to offer a few shorter performances at other places around town in the week leading up to the festival.
Robert Johnson, an advisory board member of ICAGeorgia and a long-time friend of JapanFest and the Miyabiya troop, knew the dual-language, Japanese immersion school would be a great place for one of the shows. He helped organize the day’s demonstration and was on-hand to talk to the crowd and introduce the performers.
The performance
It was the first time having a Kabuki performance at ICAGeorgia. And, as students filed into the school’s gym, the excitement was palpable. The room was humming with happy voices before the show even began.
Johnson greeted the kids with a smile before introducing the award-winning Kabuki troop in both English and Japanese.
“This special group from Japan will be performing at JapanFest, but today they’re performing here for you,” he told the excited crowd.
He went on to explain, “Kabuki is a special form of very dramatic and traditional Japanese dance. Two dancers today will do the Lion Dance.” The youngest children in the crowd shrieked with delight when they heard the name.
“The Lion Dance is like the story of the Lion King,” he continued, “with an otousan (father) lion with a long white mane and his son with a bright red mane.”
After the short explanation of what to expect, Johnson instructed the students (and the adults in the audience) to call for the performers to come out. To the sounds of “Miyabi-ya, miyabi-ya,” from the crowd, the dancers bounded out into the room, onto the space set up for their performance. They greeted Mr. Johnson and the students before getting into the story.
An interactive experience
The show started with a brief instruction of Kabuki movements that got the audience on its feet, following the red lion’s lead. It ended with a bang of confetti that thrilled (and surprised) everyone there.
In between, the story of the two lions was beautifully expressed through the performers’ detailed costumes, traditional kumadori makeup, exaggerated expressions and dramatic movements. At times, the dancers even made their way into the audience. Students and adults alike were riveted from start to finish.
“I’m happy to have the performers come to our school,” said Junko Jones, a founding board member and CFO of ICAGeorgia. “Not all of the students will be able to go to JapanFest. So, it’s nice that they can experience Japan here.”
About ICAGeorgia
The International Charter School of Georgia is a K-6 Japanese immersion school located in Peachtree Corners. They currently have 250 students, with plans to expand the school to offer Grades 7–8 in the future.
Eighty-one of the students will sing onstage at JapanFest September 21 at 1pm. This will be school’s sixth time performing at the festival, having been there every year since the school opened. The students also performed at the state capital in January for Japan Day.
For more information about ICAGeorgia, visit internationalcharteracademy.org.
For more about JapanFest and Miyabiya Japan, visit japanfest.org
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