Haven’t you heard that Windsor Forest High School was Savannah’s first air-conditioned high school? Opened in the autumn of 1967, Windsor Forest High School began educating students in grades 7 through 12. It is located in the Windsor Forest section of Savannah.
Managed by the Savannah-Chatham County School Board of Education, Windsor Forest High School serves several southside Savannah neighborhoods. These include Windsor Forest, White Bluff, Wilshire, and Georgetown. The school’s address is 12419 Largo Drive. Its ZIP code is 31419.
Originally, fifth-grade students from overcrowded Windsor Forest Elementary were temporarily housed in a wing of the new high school. For years Windsor’s middle school students came from south and west of Holland Drive. High school students came from a larger area stretching north and east to the middle of Montgomery Cross Road.
Court-mandated busing plans in 1970 and 1971 changed Windsor Forest High School’s attendance area. Minority students from Cloverdale and Liberty City came to the school. Some of Windsor’s white students were reassigned to Jenkins High School and later to Beach High. By the 1990s, large-scale integration made Windsor Forest High School a neighborhood school again. In 1975, middle school grades 7 and 8 were dropped. Those students transferred to new middle schools in Chatham County.
Windsor Forest High School has seen its share of accolades. In 2015, history teacher Ernie Lee earned the title of Georgia State Teacher of the Year for 2016.
Windsor Forest High School boasts several notable alumni. Kathy Pham is a respected computer scientist. Bernard James played professional basketball for the Dallas Mavericks. Marty Pevey was a professional baseball player for the Montreal Expos. Eron Riley played professional football for several teams including the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets. Jason Shiell was a professional baseball player for the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves.
Today, Windsor Forest High School continues to educate students. In the 2022-2023 school year, the enrollment was 1,012 students. The student-to-teacher ratio is 16.71. The school colors are green and white. The mascot is the Knight. Joanna Brooks serves as the principal. Windsor Forest High School remains accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Windsor Forest High School stands as a testament to the evolving face of education in Savannah.