The Atlanta-based Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education plans to visit Gainesville Elementary School, which is at 1145 McEver Road, from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Sept. 29.

Gainesville Elementary, which began its second year of operation on Aug. 9, is one of 14 planned stops on the organization's 12th Annual Bus Trip Across Georgia.

Business, government and community leaders, including Secretary of State Cathy Cox, State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox and the president of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, took part in last year's tour.

Shawn McCollough, Gainesville Elementary principal, said he sees the visit as much of an opportunity to show off Gainesville City Schools as it his school.

He said he expects bus tour participants to hear about the school system's programs of choice and its "Pachyderm Assessments," or battery of tests administered to students before and after instruction.

"We're excited about all the initiatives we have and Gainesville Elementary is simply the model (for the system)," McCollough said.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Economic Developers Association founded the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education in 1990 in an effort "to improve the academic achievement of Georgia students through research, advocacy and communication," according to the group's Web site.

The group's president, Stephen D. Dolinger, couldn't be reached for comment.