History of Southside High School

Southside Comprehensive High School
801 Glenwood Ave. S.E.
Atlanta, GA 30312

A Brief History

Southside Comprehensive High School Opened in the Fall of 1985 housed in the old Roosevelt building, awaiting the completion of the new 20 million dollar ultra modern State of the art complex. The staff and students moved into the new building in January of 1986. The school was the results of the merger of the old Smith High School. and Roosevelt High School. The initial enrollment was approximately 1300 students.

Southside’s first principal was Mr. Charles Hawk from 1985 to 1991. Mr. Joseph Carpenter who served following him from 1991 until 1993. The present principal, Dr. William Shepherd, took over the reins of Southside in 1993. It was during this period that GE became actively involved with Southside. The current principal, Dr. Shirlene B. Carter began her tenure in the fall of 2003.

As an Information Processing Magnet School, Southside has been in the forefront of the utilization of technology for educational purposes. The early conceptualization of the school was to bring in the expertise of the business world as an aid to developing a working relationship between the school and the community. IBM and other high tech companies played an active role in developing curriculum for the magnet program as well as serving on its advisory committee.

The GE partnership with Southside began during the tenure of Mr. Joseph Carpenter in 1993 and has continued over the past nine years. The programs sponsored by GE involved volunteers from GE and financial assistance for our After-school Tutorial, Academic Incentive Program, Mentoring Program, Attendance Improvement, Saturday SAT Prep. The Family Technology Resource Center and a Scholarship Program.

Southside efforts toward school reform began with becoming a member of High Schools That Work (HSTW) during 1993. The GE Partnership was instrumental in helping the school to make giant strides in improving student attendance, student performance on the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) and student performance on the SAT.
Significant changes have also been made in the overall climate of the school.

Recent Recognitions/Awards received by Southside include:
1999 Georgia School of Excellence
1998 A+ Partnership Summa Cum Laude Award
1999 A+ Partnership Runner-up Mentoring Award
1999 SREB HSTW Silver Certificate Award
1999 APS Salary Incentive Award
2002 SREB/NAEP 55/55 Recognition Award
2002 College Bound Grant, GE Foundation
2003 A+ Partnership Career Connection Award
2003 $25.000 William R. Shepherd Scholarship