Staff Writer
Plans call for turning the state's lowest-performing high school into a magnet school with academics so attractive that it will draw from nationally ranked schools.
Several initiatives are planned to turn around Laney High School, which has struggled for years and last year had a graduation rate of 30.9 percent, the lowest of any traditional school in Georgia. That was just ahead of the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf and just behind Henry County's alternative school.
But school officials hope to improve Laney's performance so much that it draws students from its neighbor. A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet High School has a 100 percent graduation rate and is often ranked as one of the best high schools in the country.
One significant initiative for Laney for the fall is to create an AP academy. The school will be infused with a full course load of Advanced Placement classes. The classes provide high school students college-level rigor and the opportunities to earn college credit. Only 5 percent of Laney students are enrolled in AP classes, the lowest participation of any Richmond County school.
"It wasn't a student issue," said Richmond County Science Coordinator Stacey Mabray, who is assisting with the project. "It was more a teacher issue."
Until recently, Laney had high teacher turnover, making it difficult to find teachers committed enough to undergo the extensive training necessary to teach AP classes, Ms. Mabray said. Laney's small enrollment has also been a factor because some AP classes couldn't be offered because of low interest.
Research shows that students who are exposed to AP classes learn more than those who are not, regardless of how well they perform on the AP exam, Ms. Mabray said. The state curriculum is rigorous, "but AP amps that up a notch."
In the 2010-11 school year, any Richmond County student will be able to apply to the AP academy.
Superintendent Dana Bedden was asked during a meeting this month about the possibility of sending Laney students across the street to A.R. Johnson to take AP classes.
"My goal is to grow it to help lift the whole school, which right now is one of our lowest-performing high schools," Dr. Bedden said. "If anything, I want some of the students from Johnson to go across the street the other way."
Executive Director for High Schools Lynn Warr said Laney also will be adding non-AP classes. Students will be able to take two new classes: one on child-care development and pre-k and another on law and justice.
Laney will have a small class of eighth-graders in the new school year. The pupils would have attended Tubman Middle School, but that school will be converted into an alternative education center.
These students will attend class together and eat together, easing the transition into high school grades, Ms. Warr said.
Although nothing has been finalized, school officials are in talks with Augusta Technical College and could develop a dual enrollment program similar to A.R. Johnson.
Career, Technical and Agricultural Education Director Nanette Barnes said she will be meeting with Augusta Tech to discuss the possibility of creating an EMT program, so that when Laney students graduate they can earn college certification in addition to their high school diplomas.
Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.
