Atlanta Gets to Know Skyview High School as the New School Year Gets Underway

As students across north Georgia head back to class, two Atlanta newsrooms turned their attention to College Park this week to look at how Skyview High School helps students finish what they started.

Skyview is a tuition-free public charter high school built for students whose lives do not fit a standard eight-hour school day. Rather than one long block, students choose a morning or an afternoon session. That leaves room for a job, for family responsibilities, and for everything else a young person may be carrying. Each student works from an individualized plan, and credits are earned as soon as a course is finished instead of at the end of a semester.

Principal Shelley Leger told Atlanta News First that many students walk through the door believing graduation is no longer possible for them. The work at Skyview begins by changing that belief. The credits follow.

“Our students are not just statistics.” — Shelley Leger, Principal, Skyview High School

One senior interviewed on campus this week, Te’rajh, had been out of school for a full year before he enrolled. He arrived with no credits on his transcript. This spring, he graduates.

“You can get two times the credit. Once you finish your class, you get credit instantly, you ain’t got to wait for the end of the semester. I didn’t think this day would ever come, but I’m very surprised that it did and I’m happy.” — Te’rajh, Skyview High School senior

A Skyview graduate featured in the coverage earlier crossed the stage last May as the first person in her family to earn a high school diploma. Her message to anyone who feels too far behind is simple: no one will want it more than you do, so go get it for yourself.

That is the work in front of the Skyview team again this year. Enrollment is open, the schedule is flexible, and every student who walks in is a student we expect to see graduate.

Thank you to the newsrooms and neighbors across metro Atlanta who are helping more families find their way to us.

Read the full story at Atlanta News First: When students fall behind, Fulton County school offers credit recovery program

Watch the full story at FOX 5 Atlanta: How Skyview High helps at-risk students earn diplomas fast