NY Times: A $147 Million Signal of Faith in Atlanta’s Public Schools--North Atlanta High School (Buckhead: 2013, houses)

[aries4118]

Enjoy!


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/ed...s&emc=rss&_r=1&

...
He and other educators say that the new school building is an opportunity to show that a large, urban public high school can be a viable alternative to the rising tide of charter schools, voucher systems and private education.
Some of the 1,400 students who will attend the school this year come from the wealthiest families in the region, but others, Mr. Taylor said, are homeless. Nearly half are black. About 27 percent are white and 20 percent are Hispanic. They speak more than 40 languages.
“If there was ever a model for an urban high school, this is it,” he said.
...

The amenities should help. There are a performing arts complex, a broadcast and video center, a cafeteria that looks like a food court, and a rifle range for the shooting team and military programs. The gymnasium can seat 1,800 people.

In the classroom, the school offers an extensive list of advanced placement, international studies and business courses.
...

[aries4118]

Inside Atlanta's $147 Million Public School

[MathmanMathman]

Is there any criteria for admission? I think the attitude of the students counts more than anything. Are they selecting the best teachers? A close second is the quality of the teachers. Seems as if the experiment is to surround the students with opulence to improve test scores and graduation rates.

[gerrythesnake]

Everybody better make the honor roll

[jeoff]

Wow! $147,000,000 on a school that houses 1400 students---and in a thread below this one claims an APS middle school has a 34 to 1 student to teacher ratio!! Ouch!!

[JoeP]

Yes it's in the "city" of Atlanta, but calling it urban is a bit of a stretch.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by jeoff

Wow! $147,000,000 on a school that houses 1400 students---and in a thread below this one claims an APS middle school has a 34 to 1 student to teacher ratio!! Ouch!!

That school cost $105,000 PER STUDENT!!! How could there be ANY justification for that?! $147 million is more than the entire school-year budgets for 99 percent of the school districts in this country! GOOD GOD!

What was wrong with the OLD North Atlanta High? Every time I drove by there, it looked like a museum -- certainly modern enough. And what about all the other school facilities in the city that need more pressing upgrades? People who live in South Atlanta should be LIVID!

Atlanta Public Schools has painted themselves into a horrific corner. If student performance doesn't improve to prep-school levels, this building will go down in history as a boondoggle BIGGER than the cheating scandal! Does anybody doubt there were kickbacks?!

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by jeoff

Wow! $147,000,000 on a school that houses 1400 students---and in a thread below this one claims an APS middle school has a 34 to 1 student to teacher ratio!! Ouch!!

Don't know where the NYT got the 1,400 number, every other article said the building has capacity for 2,400 students.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by Gulch

Don't know where the NYT got the 1,400 number, every other article said the building has capacity for 2,400 students.

The school has a CAPACITY for 2,400. That's not the same thing as current enrollment. Hello?!

According to the State DOE Report Card, the enrollment of North Atlanta High was only 1,243 during the 2010-11 school year. Interestingly enough, the report card also shows that over a three-year period, the percent of white students increased dramatically and the percent of free-reduced lunch students declined. So the demographics of NAHS are indeed changing to become more of a Buckhead neighborhood school.

Georgia Department of Education

[Nanosolar]

NYT has been hammering Atlanta lately. Wonder why.