On August 18, 1906, the Georgia General Assembly approved Public Law 448, an act providing for the establishment and maintenance of schools of agriculture and mechanic arts in each congressional district. It was thereafter named the Perry Act after the Hall County Senator H. H. Perry who had initiated the bill. Provisions of the bill stipulated that the schools would teach agriculture, mechanics, and English with allowance for other teachers the individual school could afford. The schools gained their money from the inspection fees of oil and fertilizers in the state, and also from the sales of their goods and services. If there was a surplus profit, some of the money the school earned would go to the students as an allowance. The students themselves were to be the only laborers on the campus, working under the direction of their principal and teachers.

The Seventh District Agricultural and Mechanical School was located in Powder Springs, Georgia. John Newton McEachern, co-founder of the Life of Georgia Insurance Company, donated 240 acres to the school. His support of the school encouraged other members of the community to also donate their time and money to the school. In February 1908, the school opened its doors with one building which was a two-story, white-columned Administrative Building. One year later, the boys’ dormitory was completed but subsequently lost in a fire. It was then rebuilt in 1912, and the girls’ dormitory was finished in the same year.

Students were responsible for paying their tuition and earning their board while living at the school. The boys farmed and learned animal husbandry, growing the food for the school, while the girls learned cooking and other domestic tasks by cooking for the school. The students also helped build the school buildings, learning carpentry and brick-making in the process.

In 1933, the state of Georgia moved to disband all A & M schools. This decision was largely due to the exponential growth of accredited high schools in the state which decreased the need for district schools. The Seventh District A & M School was, in effect, consolidated with the Fourth District A & M School to create West Georgia College in Carrollton. Faculty member Sara Ward and staff Ruby Jenkins both came to West Georgia College from the Seventh District A & M School.

The Macland and Powder Springs communities continued to use the buildings of the Seventh District A & M School for education. Five small Cobb County public schools (Corner, Macland, Due West, Talley's, and Mount Zion) were incorporated into the Macland Consolidated School, which opened in October 1933. The McEachern family continued to support the school financially, providing money for books, supplies, and scholarships. In 1938, the Cobb County Board of Education approved a petition from the community and the local Board of Trustees to change the school’s name to John McEachern Schools.