Savannah Arts Academy (SAA) is the first dedicated performing and visual arts school in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, United States. It is part of the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools. Savannah Arts Academy was granted charter school status and the former Savannah High School building in July 1998, and opened in August of the same year with 397 students enrolled. As of 2023, the school is ranked the #7 high school in Georgia, and #276 high school nationally, ranked by ''U.S. News & World Report''.

History

The Savannah Arts Academy building is located on a site that was originally planned as a luxury tourist hotel called the Hotel Georgia. The

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

, in the midst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, expressed interest in the site for use as the new Savannah High School, which was dedicated on June 15, 1937. After 61 years on Washington Avenue, Savannah High School classes were moved to a new building on Pennsylvania Avenue, leaving the structure available for the newly formed Savannah Arts Academy for the school year beginning August 1998.

Awards and recognition

During the 2006–07 school year, Savannah Arts Academy was recognized with the

Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

Award of Excellence by the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement."

Student activities

Junk 2 Funk

Junk 2 Funk is an annual fashion show put on by the visual arts and theater departments. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Junk 2 Funk usually consisted of four shows in January; however, in 2021, there were no performances open to the public, and in 2022, one public show was performed as well as one school show.

Notable alumni

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Savannah Arts Academy Schools of the performing arts in the United States Educational institutions established in 1998 Public high schools in Georgia (U.S. state) Works Progress Administration in Georgia (U.S. state) Schools in Savannah, Georgia Magnet schools in Georgia (U.S. state) Charter schools in Georgia (U.S. state) 1998 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1998 in Georgia (U.S. state)