• About Hollis

    Michael R. Hollis Innovation Academy is a PK-8 STEM School.

    Hollis opened on August 3, 2016 to students of the Vine City/English Avenue Community, initially servicing PK-5 students, and added a grade level each year until the school reached 8th grade in 2019.

    Hollis was formed in 2016 following the closing of Bethune Elementary School, which at the time, was one of the lowest performing schools in the district. Students began the 2016-2017 school year in the former Kennedy Middle School building, now known as Michael R. Hollis Innovation Academy.
    Mission
    We are an innovative school that exposes students to rich experiences that will allow them to dream bigger and lead choice-filled lives.

    Vision
    We equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to tap into their talents and unique purpose.
    Six Habits of Hollis
    Collaboration  •  Communication  •  Creativity
    Empathy  •  Perseverance  •  Self-Discipline
    School Creed
    As I pass through the doors of Hollis each day,
    I will strive to do my best in every way.
    I am committed to excellence and nothing less
    Because my education is the key to my success.
    I will respect my school and those who teach and guide me.
    I will respect myself and those who sit beside me.
    I will always do my share to show that I care.
    I am proud to be a Hollis student.
    Michael R. Hollis
    Attorney • Entrepreneur • Leader

    Michael R. Hollis It was Michael Hollis’ destiny to be a leader, not a follower. He set a high bar as a teenager, and he kept raising it as an adult.

    When Mr. Hollis was 16, he talked his way into a job in the Braves' Public Relations department, was selected as a Georgia delegate to the White House Conference on Youth and spearheaded the organization of Young Atlantans for Maynard Jackson when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1969, before he was elected mayor. Mr. Hollis accomplished all of this before he graduated from Booker T. Washington High School.

    Mr. Hollis went to Dartmouth College, where he graduated with honors, then to the University of Virginia School of Law, where he became the first black national president of the student division of the American Bar Association. After law school, he returned to Atlanta briefly before being appointed associate chief counsel by then-President Jimmy Carter to investigate the legal ramifications of the Three Mile Island nuclear power-plant accident near Middletown, PA in 1979.

    In 1984, Mr. Hollis launched Air Atlanta, a luxury airline that was the first in the nation controlled by an African-American.

    Born at Grady Memorial Hospital, Mr. Hollis served on both the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority and the hospital board. In addition to his work with the hospital, Mr. Hollis was a founding trustee of Clark Atlanta University, and he served as a member of the Emory University Board of Visitors.

    Adapted from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (June 24, 2012)

    "Even when I was young,
    I always thought of bigger things."
    -Michael R. Hollis