Test scores waived for 2022-23 Savannah choice school program applications

Bianca Moorman, Savannah Morning News
·4 min read
Krista Broderick works with a student during her match class at Jenkins High.

The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) has waived test scores for students applying to school choice programs for the 2022-23 school year.

"The test scores have been waived since the beginning of the pandemic and we will continue to waive them for the upcoming school year," SCCPSS executive director of college and career readiness Angie Lewis said.

The district's choice school program application will start on Saturday and will end on Feb. 5. Lewis said test scores weren't required to apply for the choice programs for the 2021-22 school year. She said the district has not decided if test scores will be waivered for the 2023-24 school year.

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To apply, students must have a GPA of 80% or higher and have a parent submit a satisfactory conduct report. Lewis said students with lower GPAs could apply to some choice school programs, but that is on a case-by-case basis.

Lewis said other changes for the upcoming school year include the audition process at Savannah Arts Academy and Garrison School for the Arts. For the 2021-22 school year, students at Savannah Arts Academy and Garrison had online auditions. Lewis said parents and students went to the schools to submit art portfolios.

For the 2022-23 school year, Savannah Arts Academy will conduct auditions in a hybrid format. Those auditions will be in-person and virtually. At Garrison, the school will continue to have online auditions and visual art portfolios delivered to the school by parents and students.

Both schools are waving test scores required to apply for programs at the schools.

Choice programs

For the 2021-22 school year, 2,510 students are enrolled in choice programs in the district. The district offers various choice programs, including STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math), allied health, and visual and performing arts.

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Associate Superintendent Secondary Schools Bernadette Ball-Oliver said several programs had seats available for the 2021-22 school year because of the number of seats available by grade level or in a program.

Once a program becomes full, students are placed on a waitlist until seats become unavailable, she said.

For example, 89 seats were available for the engineering program at Jenkins High School, but only 86 were seated, Ball-Oliver said. She said some students had been placed on a waiting list because there weren't enough seats in a particular grade.

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With a five-year $14.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the district will offer additional choice programs at A.B. Williams Elementary, Hubert Middle School Innovative Learning Academy, and a STEAM pathway at the School of Liberal Arts Savannah High School.

The district received the Magnet School Assistance Program (MSAP) grant in May 2021 and it will help establish and enhance STEAM programs.

How to apply?

In addition to the steps above, students not currently enrolled in the district must present a report card from the last three semesters.

Parents can choose up to three choice school programs for their children. A student is placed in a choice program based on a lottery or if a seat is available.

  • The lottery process begins in March and will be based on priority which include:

  • Children of full-time permanent SCCPSS employees who live in Chatham County

  • A Pre-K child who is enrolled at a selected choice program school

  • Children with siblings who live in the same household

  • Chatham County residents

  • Children of SCCPSS employees but are not residents of Chatham County

  • Out of county residents.

After the lottery, currently enrolled SCCPSS students will be sent a registration email to be completed online. Students not currently enrolled in the district will have to register online, submit a birth certificate, provide a social security card, an immunization record form, a Georgia Certificate of EED (ear, eye, dental) Form 3300 and proof of an address. Parents of those students will receive an email on the registration process after receiving a seat from the lottery.

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Another application will go live on March 16 for those who want to apply after the lottery process. The requirements will be the same as the regular application process and will be accepted until June 15.

Parents can apply a choice school program decision by requesting an appeal to the Office of College and Career Readiness, 402 Market St., Savannah, GA 31408, or email amy.perry@sccpss.com or angie.lewis@sccpss.com.

Applications will be accepted from Feb.7 until Feb.18 at 5 p.m.

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The application can be downloaded by going to choice on the school district's website at SCCPSS.com. The virtual Student Success Expo and STEM Festival will take place on Saturday.

Bianca Moorman is the education reporter. Reach her at BMoorman@gannett.com or 912-239-7706. Find her on Twitter @biancarmoorman.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah schools to waive test scores for choice program applications