South Forsyth High School

Great School. Phenomenal Faculty and Administration. Challenging Program for bright students. Am so happy my daughter attends SFHS.
--Submitted by a parent

The best kept secret is the IB Programme at South. Excellent School! Excellent Education! Excellent IB Teachers and Non-IB Teahcers
--Submitted by a parent

re: the last review, "My current 2 attending are doing mostly AP and honors classes because even though the school has downsized, the diversity has changed and there are maybe even less expectations in regular classes." - and also in regards to previous, so what are you saying? The divers kids (i.e. non-white kids) are bring down your precious lily-white schools? Do you have stats to back that up? Couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that NCLB is a complete failure! I hear what you're saying, but it's not like it's the ghetto up here, and is it possible that the teachers are frustrated because their hands are tied to the less than impressive state curriculum? No the colored kids are always an easy scapegoat. You really need to check you neck!
--Submitted by a parent

SFHS is a great school if you care about education and, therefore, have instilled that into your children. I have 4 children... 2 have graduated, 2 are currently attending. One did the AP class route after realizing that staying in regular classes would be incredibly painful (diverse and large school meant low expectations in the regular classes) and one did the IB program... great experiences for both of them with teachers and great preparation for college (very impt.). My current 2 attending are doing mostly AP and honors classes because even though the school has downsized, the diversity has changed and there are maybe even less expectations in regular classes. There are a couple of bad teachers but a large majority are good and the honors/AP/IB teachers are exceptional. My oldest 2 were well prepared for college. I expect my younger 2 to be well prepared, as well. The teachers are very good about being available to the students for extra help before and after school. Saturday academy is a great idea and student tutors are available also. Failing is not tolerated. I believe failing students have to attend Saturday academies (or something like that). Overall they care.
--Submitted by a parent

I FREAKIN LOVE THIS SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! its awesome. hey its all outside but it could be worse. (: nice teachers awesome at sports. its a great place to be(: YEAH SENIORS 11!
--Submitted by a student

I'm a junior here and I can't wait for the day I graduate. The school can be compared to the Walmart of big-box schooling if that makes sense. By this I mean you have teachers that literally read out of the textbook, can only answer questions out of the textbook, and hate their jobs (there are exceptions). I also have classmates that don't know enough math to understand algebra or geometry, etc. etc. Average and maybe even below-average students will do ok. The truly gifted and motivated kids suffer.
--Submitted by a student

As a parent with children that have been through the system (first Sharon ES, then Riverwatch MS), the drop off in quality from elementary and middle school to the high school level is a bit disappointing. SFHS is not a bad school, but it does not cater to the gifted/advanced student. My daughter constantly complains that her coursework is not challenging enough and that many students in her classes simply don't take school seriously. We have talked with her teachers who have replied that due to the diversity of the student body, they 'cannot hold my daughter to a higher standard.' As an involved parent this is unacceptable. We have been happy with Forsyth County schools for our entire life but are now looking into moving to Fulton or Cobb where the high schools seem to offer more rigor.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter just started at SFHS (Aug. 09) as a freshman and LOVES IT. She wants to go in early and stay late! Her teachers and classmates are competitive and encourage her to strive for excellence. SFHS used to be crowded due to the rapid growth of this area, but with the opening of a new high school they were able to remove all of the trailer classrooms that used to fill the parking lot. Is it the best school in the nation? No, but they did rank 371st on Nesweek's recent list of top 1500 high schools in the nation, making the list for the third year in a row. Forsyth County also had the highest avg ACT scores (2008/09) for high school districts in Georgia, with South Forsyth HS leading the group.
--Submitted by a parent

We love this high school. Coming from California we didn't know what to expect. I would rate east bay San Francisco 5 and south forsyth a 9 out of 10. The teachers are extremely accomodating all having much more than just a teaching certificate many with bachelor and master and doctorate degrees. My daughters can't believe how much better the schools are here compared to Northern California
--Submitted by a parent

As a parent of a past and current HS student, I feel the school could do more for the students with IEP's with tutoring like having a tutoring labs for the students. It is nice they have IB or AP curriculums but IEP student [need] more special help.
--Submitted by a parent