South Forsyth High School

South Forsyth High School is a public high school, built in 1989, located in Cumming, Georgia, a suburb northeast of Atlanta. It is one of eight public high schools in the Forsyth County School District, and serves students who live in parts of unincorporated Cumming. In 2017, South Forsyth High School was ranked #416 on US News' "Best High Schools Ranking".[6] The school has been given an "A" rating and Platinum status by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement for more than five years.[7] South Forsyth High School has offered the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and the Career-Related Programme since 2000 and 2012, respectively.[8]

Main Hall at South Forsyth High School opened in July 2016.
South Forsyth High School
Address
585 Peachtree Parkway

Cumming
,
Georgia

United States
Information
TypePublic school
MottoConnect to Achieve; Lead to Inspire.[1]
Established1989
PrincipalPam Bibik
Teaching staff129.00 (FTE)[2]
Grades9-12
Enrollment2,352 (2021-22)[3]
Student to teacher ratio18.15[2]
Campus size10 acres[4]
Color(s)Royal blue, silver, black, and white        
MascotWar Eagle
National ranking416 (national), 13 (state)[5]
AffiliationForsyth County Schools
WebsiteSouth Forsyth High School

History

South Forsyth High School first opened in 1989 as both a middle and high school, named South Forsyth Junior High. An additional building, East Hall, was later added to allow the high school and middle school to operate separately. In 1998, a new middle school, South Forsyth Middle School, was built on a separate property, allowing the high school to utilize the entire campus. After this, students were moved from Forsyth County High, now Forsyth Central High School, to alleviate overcrowding.[4] Eventually South Forsyth High School experienced its own overcrowding, which prompted the construction and opening of West Forsyth High School in 2007,[9] Lambert High School in 2009,[10] and Denmark High School in 2018.

Renovations

As a result of district-wide overcrowding at all of the middle schools, such as Lakeside Middle School, Piney Grove Middle School, and South Forsyth Middle School, a $195 million bond referendum was passed, which included significant improvements to South Forsyth High School.[11] These included a new cafeteria, a new 42,000 square foot competition gym, improved traffic flow, a new administration center, 23 new classrooms, a new front façade, and a new courtyard in front of East Hall featuring walkways to connect the several separate buildings on campus.[12] The renovations were designed by Manley Spangler Smith Architects. Balfour Beatty was selected as the construction manager, with a maximum of $25.7 million budgeted for the project. In July 2016, the new additions were opened to the public. The new additions include administrative offices, nine new classrooms, a large dining hall, a competition style gym, and the South Forsyth Plaza.[13]

1990 hostage stand-off

On September 7, 1990, Randy Floyd Addis entered the school with a rifle, a shotgun and a semi-automatic pistol. After a teacher wrestled the rifle away from him, he used the pistol to hold many of his classmates hostage. Most of the students were released over the course of the morning. In the early afternoon, Floyd became dizzy and gave himself up, releasing the final nine children. No one was injured.[14][15]

Athletics

South Forsyth currently competes in Region 6-AAAAAAA (Area 3 AAAAAAA for lacrosse),[16]← and has since 2012.[17][18] SFHS has seven varsity sports for boys and girls. The school fields junior varsity teams for most sports and freshmen teams in football and volleyball. The school is a member of the Georgia High School Association. South Forsyth is currently the region champion in football for Region 6-AAAAAA.

In 2015, the varsity football team finished with a school high 11-2 record, beating rival school Lambert by a long shot, winning the Region 6-AAAAAA Championship and making it to the quarterfinals of the GHSA Playoffs until ultimately losing to Colquitt County High School.

The school has won state championships in competition cheerleading in 1997 and 1999, girls' cross country in 2016, boys’ cross country 2018, and Men's Quartet in 2009.[19][20][21]

Other studies

South Forsyth High School offers a fairly wide selection of Advanced Placement (AP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) accredited classes.[22] South Forsyth is currently the only school in the Forsyth County School District to offer the IB program.[23] South Forsyth also offers other study alternatives, including Work Based Learning and Dual Enrollment. The former allows students to work during part of the day for the variety of companies, while the latter allows students to take college classes for both college and high school credit at either the Lanier Technical College, University of North Georgia (UNG), or Georgia Institute of Technology. Through the Move On When Ready program, some students take all their classes at a college (typically UNG) and never come to South Forsyth's campus, save for the occasional counselor visit.

Additionally, the school offers Distance Learning (DL) courses in association with the Georgia Institute of Technology in courses such as Genetics, Linear Algebra or Multivariable Calculus for students who have met the necessary requirements.

Clubs and organizations

South Forsyth offers a multitude of student clubs and organizations in addition to athletics. These include Science Olympiad, FBLA, Academic Bowl, HOSA, MDJunior, TSA, FCA, Drama, Debate, Band, DECA, and Chorus.

FBLA

FBLA is the co-curricular student organization for Business and Computer Science students but is open to all students that wish to join. FBLA allows students to gain leadership skills by participating in chapter events (fundraisers, membership drives, community service), working on chapter teams (website management, promotion), becoming a chapter/region/state level officer, and competing in business and computer science events. Students in the Programming & Computer Science Pathway and the Entrepreneurship & Human Resource Management Pathway learn about and participate in FBLA activities in class. FBLA is the largest and oldest business student organization in the world. South Forsyth FBLA is one of the largest FBLA chapters in the world and has been the Georgia FBLA Chapter of Year for two years in a row (2016–17,2017–18). The chapter currently has over 400+ members and is one of the biggest student organizations on campus. https://www.southforsythfbla.com/about.html

DECA

In DECA, students can compete against other students from around the world in fields such as business, marketing, finance, and hospitality.[24] The South Forsyth High School chapter was started in 1999 and has since grown to almost 1,500 members. As of 2022–2023 it is the world's largest DECA chapter.[25]

Student data

Students are drawn from Piney Grove Middle School, Lakeside Middle School, and South Forsyth Middle School. South currently serves students in grades 9-12. Students can also ask to transfer to South from other schools in order to participate in the competitive IB program.[26]

Demographics

During the 2021-22 school year, South Forsyth had an enrollment of 2,352 students. The student body was 49.9% White, 36.6% Asian, 6.8% Hispanic, 2.6% Black, 3.6% Multiracial, 0.3% Native American, and 0.1% Pacific Islander.[27]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Mission, Vision, Motto." Forsyth County Schools. Web. 20 July 2015 http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/Page/39694
  2. "South Forsyth High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  3. "Student Enrollment Summary Report" (PDF). Forsyth County Board of Education. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  4. "Welcome to the home of the War Eagles!" Forsyth County Schools. Web. 20 July 2015 http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/domain/2004
  5. "South Forsyth High School". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  6. "High School Rankings" US News Education. Web. 1 May 2018 https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/georgia/districts/forsyth-county/south-forsyth-high-school-5903
  7. "Georgia School Reports | Georgia School Reports".
  8. "South Forsyth High School". International Baccalaureate. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  9. "West Forsyth High School" Forsyth County Schools. Web. 20 July 2015 http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/domain/2064
  10. "School History" Forsyth County Schools. Web. 20 July 2015 http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/page/24758
  11. "2014 Bond" Forsyth County Schools. Web. 20 July 2015 http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/2014bond
  12. "Designs completed for North, South Forsyth high schools" Forsyth County News. Web. 20 July 2015 http://www.forsythnews.com/section/3/article/27450/
  13. "FORSYTH COUNTY SCHOOLS 2014 CAPITAL PROGRAM TIMELINE" Forsyth County Schools. Web. 20 July 2015 http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/cms/lib3/GA01000373/Centricity/Domain/61/Copy%20of%202014%20BOND%20TIMELINE%20-%20May15.xlsx
  14. "TEEN GIVES UP AFTER 5-HOUR HOSTAGE ORDEAL". www.deseret.com. Deseret News. 7 September 1990. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  15. "Teen Charged With Kidnapping 53 in School Hostage Situation". www.apnews.com. AP News. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  16. "2021-2022 Region Alignments | GHSA.net".
  17. "GHSA Region Alignment". GHSA. Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  18. "GHSFHA South Forsyth Yearly Region Standings". GHSFHA. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  19. "2008-2009 GHSA State Literary Meet Results - Class AAAAA | GHSA.net".
  20. "Athletics / Cheerleading." Forsyth County Schools. Web. 24 August 2011. <http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/page/22454>.
  21. http://ga.milesplit.com/articles/195733>.
  22. "Advanced Studies - AP,IB,Gifted / Advanced Studies." Forsyth County Schools. Web. 24 August 2011. <http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/page/22298>.
  23. "The International Baccalaureate Programme" Forsyth County Schools. Web. 20 July 2015 http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/domain/2019
  24. "About Us - South Forsyth DECA". South Forsyth DECA. South Forsyth High School. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  25. "DECA Celebrates the 2022-2023 Top 10 Chapters in the World". DECA. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  26. "2014 - 2015 Feeder Patterns, Forsyth County Schools" Forsyth County Schools. Web. 20 July 2015 http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/cms/lib3/GA01000373/Centricity/Domain/64/FY2015FeederPattern.pdf
  27. Enrollment by Ethnicity/Race k12.ga.us

34°8′51.55″N 84°10′19.82″W

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