Savannah High: Fresh Start With New Schools

Savannah High School is no longer the school we've all known. The school will now be broken into two entirely separate schools. They will be the School of Law and Criminal Justice...
and the School of Liberal Studies.

It's all part of the district's plan to re-organized and re-vamp the school system.

News 3 education reporter, Randi Hempel, has been following the story. It means the slate is wiped clean when it comes to adequate yearly progress, or AYP.

It's no longer a choice school, which means that students who live in the Savannah High attendance zone cannot opt out of going to the school and go to a passing school under No Child Left Behind. Others can apply for the special programs at Savannah High.

I met with one of the principals to talk about all of the changes.

"We have really high expectations of our students and we want something different for them," explains Dr. Toney Jordan, principal at the old Savannah High and principal of the School of Liberal Arts at Savannah High.

Principal, Dr. Toney Jordan, will take the helm of the new School of Liberal Studies while a second principal, Angie Lewis, will be in charge of the School of Law and Criminal Justice
There will be separate principals, separate wings and separate teachers.

"It's a model that's worked in other districts and there's no reason why it cant work here,” says Jordan.

"Sometimes Savannah High gets a negative wrap because of discipline or some of the academics. How is this going to be different and how would you persuade people to send their students here?” I ask.

“Well, if you looked at what happened with Savannah High last year, we were able to rise above some of the negative stereotypes that were in the community about us. It was a decrease in the number of fights. There was a decrease in the number of disciplinary problems. There was an increase in academic performance. In terms of AYP, we did well in math and language arts,” explains Jordan.

And Dr. Jordan tells me the best is yet to come.

"This is probably going to be one of the best years of my career. Just to be able to walk into a school with a clean slate, with that dark cloud lifted. I'm excited," continues Jordan.

School officials expect 1,000 students to be in building, with about 170 in the School of Law and Criminal Justice.

The goal is to one day add another school. It would be the School of Communications, which will have about 400 students.

As for athletics, both schools will play for the same team. They will still be the Savannah High Blue Jackets. Since students from across the district can apply for the two academic programs, they can play for the teams if they get in.