The students who walked into the new Shuman Middle School in 1963 were surprised to find a classroom building unlike any they had known before. Shuman was one of the early “controlled-environment schools” constructed in Chatham County; the air-conditioned facility had no windows and no outside noise to distract students from their work. This modern design was an early example of the innovations that separated Shuman from the norm, a tradition of positive change carried on over the years.
Built on land purchased from the Savannah Golf Club, the new school on Goebel Avenue was the first neighborhood middle school available to white eastside students. With desegregation in the 1970s, the school welcomed African American students and by the 1980s and 1990s Vietnamese students also enrolled at Shuman. Some of the Vietnamese pupils were recent arrivals in the United States with limited knowledge of English. Special English classes at Shuman introduced students to essential grammar and vocabulary and they made quick progress. Other Vietnamese students mentored the newcomers and introduced them to the ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) Club that increased cultural awareness with fun activities.
In 1992, the Board of Education designated Shuman as a magnet school for the performing arts. A wide curriculum of coursework in theater, visual arts, dance, chorus, band, and orchestra gave students an opportunity to hone their talents. Shuman also earned recognition for its academic achievement in 1999 when it was named a “Georgia School of Excellence.”
The most dramatic change in Shuman’s history came in 2010 when the Board of Education reconfigured it as an elementary school. The farewells of middle school students in June 2010 gave way to the excitement of young children arriving at Shuman Elementary School in September. Eastside families, who had seen three neighborhood elementary schools close between 1992 and 2003, were delighted with the change.
Even in its first year of operation, the new Shuman is making a name for itself. In February 2011, the school hosted the first Chatham County Cricket Tournament. Shuman teachers discovered that cricket was the first organized sport played in colonial Georgia and wanted students across the county to experience Georgia history on the playing field. Fittingly, the winning team of the tournament received the Shuman Cup.
Shuman Middle School
Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.
Courtesy of City of Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs.
Shuman’s first students arrived in September 1963 with a sigh of relief. For the first two weeks of the school year, they attended class at Myers Junior High School on double sessions. When the new school was finally ready for occupancy, students were delighted with the space, the colorfully painted halls of rose, blue, and green, and especially the air conditioning.
Shuman Spectacular of ’64
Courtesy of Glenda Anderson.
Carolyn Elam directs the Chorus in a medley of Broadway show tunes in a program entitled “Shuman Spectacular of ’64.”
Algebra Scholars
The Trojan 1966.
Courtesy of Glenda Anderson.
The ten students who scored the highest on a 1964 standardized test in Algebra were honored for their achievement, along with their teacher, Reba Smith.
ESOL Club
The Trojan 1990, 71.
Courtesy of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.
Members of the ESOL Club improved their language skills while having a good time in after school activities.
6th Grade Strings
The Shuman Middle School Yearbook, 2008-2009, 13.
Courtesy of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.
Strings—violin, cello, and bass—are the passion of these sixth-graders in 1990.
Good-bye to Shuman Middle School
Photograph by Carl Elmore.
Savannah Morning News, 11 June 2010, 4A.
Courtesy of the Savannah Morning News.
With a wave and a smile, Principal Karyta Byers says good-bye to the last middle school students at attend Shuman.
