Before Riverwood International Charter School students attend its inaugural freshman picnic Saturday or go through the front doors on Monday, landscape improvements will help make the Sandy Springs campus more enjoyable.

Parent Teacher Student Association co-president Anne B. Jarvis said it has partnerships for the first time with companies like Vinings-based Terranova Landscape Design.

“Terranova does a lot of business with a lot of our families here,” she said. “They gave us a proposal that, frankly, the school couldn’t turn down. It was an opportunity for Terranova to come help us with our landscape and cleanup of our school.”

In turn, Jarvis said the company gets visibility and, perhaps, more clients.

“It’s a win-win for everybody. The same with Bruegger’s Bagels. They’re new to the community and they want to be involved. Publix is a great partner,” she said. “We feel if we support the businesses in our community, the businesses in our community will support us.”

Landscape Designer Amy Blumenfeld said she and her associates are glad to help with tasks like clearing growth away from a garden’s pathways and pavilion.

“I think it’s really important to create healthy spaces for people, especially in a school environment,” she said. “Not only do we want to beautify the space, but we want to make it into an area that contributes to the overall productivity of the school.”

New this year on the staff are former Alpharetta High School language instructor Xiajun “Jane” Zou, who will reinstate the school’s Mandarin Chinese curriculum, and International Baccalaureate Coordinator Brandi Herbert.

Carol Ciepluch, spokeswoman for North Springs Charter High School in Sandy Springs, said the campus is busy with “major construction upgrades” paid for by a special purpose local option sales tax.

“Thanks to SPLOST funding, North Springs will open the school year with a redesigned and repaved parking lot with new lanes for buses, pedestrians, cars, visitor parking, new fencing and a new front office,” she said.

Recently returned from overseas travel are Pace Academy students and faculty, who departed the Buckhead campus for academic- and service-oriented tours of the world.

“We are in our second year of our wildly successful Global Education program. It has really caught on with the parents, students and faculty,” said school spokeswoman Jessica Castleberry. “We have sent students on six amazing trips this summer to Greece, Japan, the U.K., Costa Rica, South Africa and India.”