Riverwood International Charter School's athletics department named volleyball coach E'Lisa Ladson its September Coach of the Month.

The Sandy Springs school announced the recognition on Tuesday, Sept. 8, noting that Ladson used the honor to spotlight a colleague. She chose teacher Nicole Freemon as the department's Teacher of the Month for championing student success.

The award adds to an already decorated year for Ladson. In May, the athletics department named her the Leigh Hudson Female Coach of the Year at its annual Coaches Awards presentation, recognizing her mentoring and development of student-athletes.

Ladson, known around the program as "Coach E," joined the Raider faculty in 2023 and teaches in the Health and Physical Education Department. She leads the volleyball program each fall, then heads the girls basketball program each winter.

She is an Atlanta native. A St. Pius X High School graduate, Ladson has built new programming since arriving at Riverwood, according to the athletics department's coaches profile. She created the volleyball team's "Friday Night Spikes" event and launched the Summer Slam Girls Basketball League. She is also developing a Junior Raider Volleyball program aimed at growing the sport at the middle school level.

The volleyball program ran a summer camp in June to develop younger players before the fall season began. Riverwood now fields three volleyball teams competing in GHSA Region 7-6A. Early-season home opponents have included Charles Drew, Atlanta Classical Academy, North Paulding and Decatur.

The Raiders' full volleyball schedule is available on the Riverwood Athletics website.