ATLANTA — Parts of northwest Georgia and metro Atlanta will get hit with strong storms Friday afternoon.
A tornado watch has been issued for northern parts of the Peach State Friday morning. Storms will be capable of producing heavy rain, frequent lightning, and damaging winds.
Some area schools have already begun to close or start the early dismissal process.
Schools closing early due to the strong storms
The school district closed all public schools Thursday evening due to the storm threat.
Officials announced the closing in a tweet.
Dade County School officials also took to Facebook Thursday, closing all schools in the district for Friday.
The school district also announced earlier Friday morning that all students will be having a virtual day.
Read the statement from their Facebook below to get more information:
Th school district will release students three hours earlier than their regular release time.
Parents are asked to call their child's school to get more information.
All Gordon County Schools will be dismissing elementary schools today at 12:30 p.m.
The middle and high schools will dismiss at 1:30 p.m., the school district said.
Officials also stated that aftercare will operate as normal.
Parents will be contacted individually about extracurricular activities.
Murray County officials stated on Facebook that Pleasant Valley Innovative and Murray County Pre-K were released earlier this morning.
All other schools should have been released at 10:45 a.m.
School officials alerted parents that an early dismissal will happen.
All high schools were dismissed at 11:45 a.m. Friday.
All Elementary and Jasper Middle School will be released at 12:30 p.m.
Parents can find this information on Facebook and the districts website. District officials also said parents should check their email, IC messenger and answer the robocall to get the message.
Polk School officials dismissed all middle and high school students earlier this morning.
Elementary schools will still be in school until 12:30 p.m. The district said that bus routes for elementary students will not be able to run until both middle and high school bus routes are complete.
The district also cancelled all afternoon extracurricular activities and after school programs are cancelled.
"We apologize for any inconvenience, but will always make decisions in the best interest of our students and staff, keeping safety our first priority," the school district said in Friday's Facebook post.
All schools and administrative offices are closed Friday. The district announced the closing earlier this morning.
This story will be updated as districts release their plans.
