This weekend is the 50th anniversary of SAIL High School, SAIL was the first magnet school in Leon County and the first alternative school in the country to earn full accreditation status. It was created for students who need a smaller, more personalized learning environment -- and its graduates say SAIL succeeded. They’ll mark the occasion with an upcoming three-day reunion, including a big bash at The Moon on Saturday.
SAIL started with 5 teachers and 100 kids in 1975. It was located on Macomb Street.
Leon School Board Member Rosanne Wood, who served as the principal of SAIL for 32 years, says the most important thing about how it started was that it was a school of choice.
“I’m sure principals at the other schools would have preferred it to be a place they could send kids that weren’t doing well or behaving," she says. "But that was real important that kids chose the school and couldn’t be sent there against their will.”
Wood says the freedom to choose SAIL -- short for “School for Applied Individualized Learning” -- created a positive atmosphere.
“And then they’re greeted with open arms, and everyone in the school is on the same page about really respecting all kinds of kids and not caring about what they wore, particularly, or what their hairstyle was," says Wood. "That was a refuge for a lot of students. It just, sort of, spread by word.”
In 1982, SAIL became the first public alternative school in Florida to be fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The accreditation team called SAIL, quote, “an outstanding model that should be emulated throughout the state.”
Jennifer Davy was one of the first to get the word. She says she felt like she didn’t belong at her middle school.
“I think my brand wasn’t strong enough," she recalls. "I needed to be either rich or from a prominent Tallahassee family or very nerdy or very academic or very artsy. I’m trying to remember what all the different categories and cliques were. But I didn’t seem to fit into any of those. And so, I wasn’t bullied or picked on, but I never found a good place there.”
Davy, now an architect, found a great fit at SAIL and graduated in 1985.
“I can’t say that every single person at SAIL when I was there felt that they belonged somewhere," she says. "And maybe it was because I felt that it was easy to fit in somewhere that I saw that. I don’t feel like I saw that many people that were alone.”
SAIL had a penalty system called paybacks, for breaking the rules or hassling another person. Davy says the idea was to acknowledge your debt by being productive for the school, not by sitting in detention.
“I swept steps a couple of times.” [WFSU: For what?] “I skipped classes. I’d run off campus when I wasn’t supposed to," she says. "And I came back and Rosanne asked me if I had done this. And I told her yes. And she said, ‘Thanks for being honest. These are your chores.’”
By 2007, SAIL had a long waiting list and needed more space. So, the school moved to the former Brevard Elementary School on Jackson Bluff Road. Due to its greater focus on the arts, SAIL was re-named the School for Arts and Innovative Learning.
A few years later, the College Board recognized SAIL as one of the six best schools in the nation for “Innovation in the Arts.”
Sierra Service is a drama teacher on SAIL’s faculty. She started there as a student, from 2001 to 2005. It was a much better fit for her than her previous school -- and she especially cites the respect with which the teachers treat the students.
“All those things that I had heard about it ended up being true and more. And it was just the perfect spot for me to thrive," she says. "My teachers -- they gave us so much room to work on our own thing and find what we were passionate about and then bring it to light.”
For Service, that was creating plays even when school wasn’t in session. Her teachers supported her. Now she tries to pass it on.
“When I give a project and somebody comes to me with a twist, ‘Can I do it like this instead?,’ I always try to make that work for what we’re doing, because ‘What a cool, unique idea you’ve had," she says. "Let’s try to make that work.’”
Service says SAIL’s prevailing ethic isn’t limited to its teachers.
“Anybody working at the school could be that one to reach that kid in a way," she says, "whether it’s the cafeteria person, a custodian, an office person, a teacher, a media specialist -- they’re all just essential. Because each person may find the connection with the kid that nobody else has yet.”
SAIL had a 95.5% graduation rate last year. The school earned an A grade, getting the highest score in science achievement and the second-highest in English among Leon County high schools.
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Event Schedule:
Friday, Feb. 14 (11:40AM – 2PM): VISIT THE CURRENT CAMPUS
-This is a FREE alum-focused event. Visitors must register ahead of time or they will be turned away.
Saturday, Feb. 15 (5pm – 10pm): Party at the Moon!
-Intended for Alums, Staff, & Folks who love SAIL!
Sunday, Feb. 16 (12pm – 3pm): Family Picnic at the Macomb St. Old Campus
-FREE event! BYO-picnic supplies.
-Intended for SAIL families & Community.
-Commemorative plaque dedication at the old SAIL campus at 1:30 pm.
Please be sure to check out our website for tickets and additional information! https://sailhighfoundation.org/reunion/
