South Gwinnett High School had a problem with students not being in class, either not going or hanging out around the halls.
During the 2022-2023 school year, 14% of its nearly 2,800 students were disciplined at some point for being absent without leave. The year prior, 12.5% faced consequences for being AWOL.
This school year, the amount of students AWOL is down to 4.5%.
Avoiding classes is far more difficult this school year. Virtually everywhere in the halls, you’ll see administrators working at desks, campus monitors checking areas of the building and teachers in their planning period bringing their work with them outside their classrooms. During class changes, if students are taking too long or getting too loud, an administrator may blow a whistle and remind them to hustle.
“There’s some things here that you may not see in other schools, but you see in our atmosphere and in our discipline that it’s been a success,” Principal Rodney Jordan said.
South Gwinnett has become a model of sorts, with leaders from other schools — including some from outside the district — visiting to learn more about discipline strategies.
Jordan joined South Gwinnett in the summer of 2023 and set an overarching goal to “protect the learning environment at all costs.”
That meant no tolerance for serious offenses like bullying, drugs, violence or weapons. He also took a strong stand against fighting and advised that students who fight would be suspended and face the district’s discipline process. Jordan said that led to questions from some parents worried the approach was too harsh, but he said the concerns dissipated over time.
Jordan came to South Gwinnett after serving as an administrator in the DeKalb and Clayton school systems and said those experiences inform his current approach.
More than 90 South Gwinnett students in each of the previous two school years were disciplined for fighting. With about a month left in this school year, that number is at 57, about 2% of students.
Not every idea has stuck. Early in the year, Jordan implemented scheduled sweeps during which all staff would take about 30 seconds during a class to look in the halls, bathrooms and other spaces for student misbehavior or rule infractions. They stopped doing the sweeps because they said they weren’t finding any issues. Jordan said he was happy to shelve that strategy.
Assistant Principal Porsha Denson said the discipline systems have lessened disruptions, allowing for more interactions and conversations.
“I love it because I actually get to know the students more,” Denson said from her standing desk in the hall. Numerous students came up to her during class changes — many were showing Denson, the senior class sponsor, photos of their prom dresses.
“From day one all the way to right now, it’s been completely different in the right direction,” English teacher Todd McCowan said, touting the emphasis on behavior throughout the school.
Jordan said the school is in a strong position, with nearly all teachers planning to come back and others wanting to join.
“One of the pleasant surprises has been teachers reaching out, wanting to come to South Gwinnett. That’s been the most rewarding part of this experience. To be in a position as a principal where you have to turn down teachers, that’s pretty good position to be in,” he said.
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