Freshly unpacked industrial saws, sanders and drill presses encircled drafting tables in classrooms with multi-story tall ceilings, from which dangled multiple sets of electrical outlets and compressed air lines.
So waits the inside of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System’s newest Career, Technical, & Agricultural Education (CTAE) facility. The equipment, with operating manuals still sealed in plastic, is only out-gleamed by the building’s polished, epoxy flooring.
The tools and spaces at the CTAE building mirror one of Savannah’s leading manufacturers, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, since the facility is home to the school district’s Aviation Maintenance and Logistics Choice Program at Robert W. Groves High School. The high school is part of the Davis-Edwards-Harris Educational Complex, 100 Priscilla D. Thomas Way, Garden City, along with George A. Mercer Middle School.
In April, Gulfstream awarded $335,485 to Groves’ aviation program through the school district’s nonprofit Educate Chatham Foundation. The funds went to the district’s office of Instructional Excellence, which then used $291,363 to purchase materials and equipment for the Groves avionic lab. Where the additional funds might have been spent was not immediately clear. Gulfstream and the school district did not immediately reply to inquiries prior to publication.
‘Oh the places, you’ll go’
The school district welcomed guests from Gulfstream and Savannah Technical College to a ceremonial ribbon cutting for the facility last Thursday. Leaders from each organization gave speeches, almost all alluding to flight in some manner.
Gulfstream Senior Vice President of Operations John Kenan called the new building an opportunity to showcase the “exiciting careers available in our industry.”
Savannah Tech President Ryan Foley called the facility a “testament to the power of partnership” that will allow students to earn certificates and provide direct pathways into a “high-demand career at a globally recognized company like Gulfstream.” Foley also said the collaboration among the school district, Savannah Tech and Gulfstream also would help retain talent in the region as students graduate with “meaningful credentials” in hand.
Executive Director of the Office of College and Career Readiness Angie Lewis called the CTAE building a bold investment and a gateway to opportunities. Superintendent Denise Watts echoed that sentiment, stating the district was not just “opening a building but opening doors” for students because the industrial training center was constructed for them.
Most captivating of all the speeches, however, was District 6 School Board Represenative Tonia Howard-Hall’s reimagining of Dr. Suess’s “Oh the Places, You’ll Go.” She weaved CTAE-specific language and contractor shoutouts into her own rendition of the book, which she called a story about making choices. She invoked past school board President Joe Buck’s and former Superintendent Ann Levett’s and many others’ roles in bringing about the educational complex. She alliterated and rhymed her way through a moving message of future prosperity for hard working students, which elicited laughter and applause from the attending guests.
Redesign led to additional costs
The CTAE building is offset from the main academic facility and had originally been slated to open with the main structure in August 2024. However, in November 2024, the board approved adding $127,500 to LS3P’s design contract for the entire complex in order to draft renovation plans for the CTAE building. The additional design contract said reconfiguration of spaces on the first-floor was needed for aviation labs, a sheet metal lab, an aircraft assembly area, a heavy equipment operations training area, classrooms, and support spaces “to meet DOE [Georgia Department of Education] CTAE requirements.”
The redesign also included reworking of existing mechanical and electrical for the additional labs and classrooms as well as “additional doors and windows as necessary for life/safety code compliance.”
During last December’s Regular Meeting of the Savannah-Chatham County Board of Public Education, a $2.6 million budget transfer of Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) III funds was approved for the CTAE building renovations. The bid was then awarded to Samet Corporation at the same meeting.
In December 2024, school district officials stated via email that early in the design phase of the project, “spatial configuration evolved.” The evolution included a large open space initially intended to support a “digital media program or other related cinematic applications.” That evolution had been in addition to spaces that had been dedicated to the aviation maintenance and maritime logistics pathways, which were already established at Groves.
However, a later administrative review of the building’s “multi-use applications” led district leaders to shift to a design that would grow the established programs. District leaders believed the move would support the workforce and future growth needs of the community in the “geographical area where the school campus is located.”
Another snip of another ribbon
School district leaders, board members and dignitaries will once again venture out to the Davis-Edwards-Harris complex on Thursday, Aug. 28 to cut a ribbon for the complex’s fieldhouse and athletic fields.
Included with the fieldhouse is a Board of Education Police Department (BOEPD) annex. The BOEPD’s main facility is headquartered at the old Port Wentworth Elementary School, 507 S. Coastal Highway, Port Wentworth.
Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com and JoeInTheKnow_SMN on Instagram.
2025-08-24 11:55:00