Communities will rally around theirhigh schools, particularly their sports teams, says former Grovetown Mayor Dennis Trudeau. With that in mind, he's looking forward to the opening of the new Grovetown High School. "It will be a morale booster for the town and also for the children.

Columbia County residents got their first look at the school system's rezoning proposal for its high schools Thursday. School administrators presented the proposal at a public hearing at Harlem High School to a crowd of about 100 people, who applauded the officials at the end of their presentation.

By Betsy Gilliland Columbia County school administrators will present a proposal to rezone the system's high school boundaries at a public hearing Thursday. The high school lines are being redrawn to prepare for the opening of Grovetown High School on Chamblin Road in 2009.

A zero has lost its stigma for some Greenbrier High School students. About 230 seniors and 10 teachers are in Zero Period, a voluntary program in which the first class starts at 6:45 a.m., 55 minutes before the school day normally begins. They also leave school an hour earlier.

Enrollment figures at Columbia County schools are slightly below projections through the first 10 days of school, officials said Friday. Columbia County school administrators projected this year's enrollment, excluding prekindergarten and special education prekindergarten pupils, at 22,377.