Assistant Director of Classic City High School Kim Mattox, Director of Classic City Dr. Angelia Major and Classic City Instructional Coach Kim Arnold (left to right) stand in the foyer of Classic City on Sept. 5. Major’s team has focused on community building for the 2023-24 school year. “If you don’t feel like you are a part of your school community, it can really kind of deter you from success because then you feel kind of like a little fish caught in (a) bowl like you don’t have any other way to go and no identity. I think Classic City provides that (sense of community) to a lot of students,” Major said.
Administrators at Classic City High School look forward to the 2023-24 school year with new plans to build community.
Although many Clarke County School District students think of the two traditional high schools available in Athens, a third one is hidden in the shadows located at 440 Dearing Ext.: Classic City High School.
According to its website, “Classic City High School offers a non-traditional setting that embraces a combination of face-to-face learning, online learning, hands-on learning, and blended learning in order to support our students and their families. Classic City High School works as a team to ensure all students have the opportunity to succeed in our SOAR and WINGS statements.”
The Classic City High School mantra is shown above. The mantra has proved to be useful in the high school environment as it promotes community. “I think (S.O.A.R) is a really good mantra. Everyone who hears it actually uses it in one way or another,” Faust said. “(This community helps students) actually build relationships with each other, the teachers and get one on one help.” Graphic by Luke Shannon
Director Dr. Angelia Major has overseen the recent rebranding of the building. Students are now greeted at the front of the Classic City with signage that reflects a new mantra: “Success in my future, open minds create opportunity, accountability provides my framework and resilience is in me (S.O.A.R.).”
For Classic City senior and student council member Kiriyana Faust, the mantra has made a new welcome addition.
“I think (S.O.A.R) is a really good mantra. Everyone who hears it actually uses it in one way or another,” Faust said. “(This community helps students) actually build relationships with each other, the teachers and get one on one help.”
According to Major, Classic City’s small student population creates an opportunity for administrators and teachers to personally connect with students more.
“The most important thing that we offer here is the ability to form those relationships and it’s hard to do that in a large school. I know teachers and administrators try (to create bonds with students) but because we are the size that we are, that (is) our strongest asset (because) we are able to handle those relationships with the kids,” Major said.
Major along with Classic City Assistant Director of Kim Mattox and Classic City Instructional Coach for Kim Arnold have made it a priority to create a space that feels like a community for students.
“We look at each student not just as a young adult but as if they were our own children and how we want them to S.O.A.R, not just in school, but what’s (their) next step after. That’s really embedded in our mantra and I will promise to what we’re (saying now) to provide to (all) the students,” Major said.
