Sarah Knuth
Professional School Counselor

Sarah Knuth is new to Jefferson High School this year.  Ms. Knuth began her career in education teaching special education classes in Florida .  She left the classroom after 12 years to become a Professional School Counselor and has been a Professional School Counselor for over 15 years, the past 12 of those in Georgia .  She is the full time counselor and will be focusing much of her attention on the junior and senior classes.

Ms. Knuth grew up in a small town in Florida much like Jefferson and graduated in a class of 65 students from Wildwood High School .  She says that coming to Jefferson High School is like coming home. After graduating high school, Ms. Knuth enrolled at Florida State University where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare. She later earned a master’s degree from the University of South Florida in School Counseling and in 2004 she was awarded a specialist’s degree from the University of Georgia in School Counseling. 

Ms. Knuth is divorced and is the mother of two daughters and two step-sons.  As a result, she is the grandmother of four biological grandchildren and four step-grandchildren.  She also has a black cat named Thomas and recently became the owner of a black German Shepherd named Rogue.  Ms. Knuth currently lives with one of her daughters and her daughter’s family in Bogart while she looks to invest in a new home close to Jefferson .

Ms. Knuth enjoys her grandchildren most of all, but she also enjoys outdoor activities, reading, crocheting, crafts and spectator sports.  She played golf at one time and would like to get back into doing that. 

Ms. Knuth is looking forward to getting to know all of the students and parents and becoming involved in the Jefferson community.

Katie Hooper
Graduation Coach

Katie Hooper is the graduation coach at JHS! This is a new position in all of Georgia high schools that helps keep our students motivated to reach their goals of becoming graduates of JHS. Even though her job is new, Mrs. Hooper's been a part of the Jefferson City School System for the last six years, and students who were "observant of all things," remember her as their eccentric, thesaurus-carrying English teacher. She's from the southwestern Virginia coal-mining town of Richlands . After she graduated from high school, she attended Southwest Virginia Community College . While in both high school and college, she worked as a disc jockey at a classic rock'n'roll station and as a dark room photography developer at the local newspaper office. She then transferred to James Madison University where she received a B.A. in mass communications and journalism. After graduation from JMU, Mrs. Hooper moved to Athens , GA , and attended Piedmont College where she earned her master's degree in English education.

When Mrs. Hooper's not with the awesome students of JHS, it's hard to tell where you might find her! You may be able to observe her absorbed in a book of poetry while eating peanut butter and carrot sandwiches during a break from hiking in the mountains, or she could be blaring Phish, Johnny Cash, Dave Matthews, Lyle Lovett, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, or Panic while she gets crazy in the kitchen, or she might be consulting her Roget's Super Thesaurus for language inspiration. One of her favorite places to be is in front of the JHS media center first thing in the morning wishing everyone a stellar day--her former students know what she’s like after her second cup of coffee! When you see her, introduce yourself to her--she loves to get to know everyone at our school and wants to see everyone graduate from JHS!

Joy Hancock
Registrar

Joy Hancock is the Registrar at JHS.  She came to us last year from Gwinnett County where she was a former SASI/Records Clerk. She graduated from Washington-Wilkes High School and  Middle Georgia College .  She has been in the public school system since 1998. 

Mrs. Hancock is married to Tom and has two children.  Her son, Ross, is a Gwinnett County Policeman and her daughter, Elizabeth, is a sophomore at North Georgia College .  She has two grandchildren, Spencer and Breannah.

Mrs. Hancock loves being outdoors, reading mysteries, and spending time with family and friends.       

Donna Shaw
Secretary/Attendance

Donna Shaw is Department Secretary and Attendance Clerk at JHS.  She is married and has three children, ages 25, 22, and 12.  She also has two dogs, Max and Sophie and two cats, Hershey and Daisy.  Mrs. Shaw enjoys cooking, being outdoors, traveling, reading, crafts, and spending time with family and friends.  Her favorite place to go on vacation is the beach.  Her favorite foods are Mexican and Italian foods.  Some of Mrs. Shaw’s favorite movies include The DaVinci Code, The Rookie, The Wedding Planner.

Jim Synan
Professional School Counselor

Jim Synan is one of the new counselors at the high school this year.  Mr. Synan is at the high school half-time and at the middle school half-time.  He comes to us from Franklin County High School .  He has also worked in Student Support Services at Athens Technical College for five years prior to working at Franklin County High School .  He received his master’s degree in counseling from the University of Georgia in 1991 and is currently pursuing his Ed.S. degree in School Guidance and Counseling from UGA. 

Mr. Synan’s wife, Sharon, is a teacher in the Jackson County School system.  He has two daughters; one in the sixth grade and another in the second grade.  He is a huge fan of the Georgia Bulldogs, and also enjoys tennis (past member of the USTA), golf, softball, swimming, and music.   

Regarding Jefferson High School , Mr. Synan says, “I am very excited to be working at Jefferson High School .  As I am working here half-time and at the middle school half-time, much of my focus will be on working with the ninth grade students as they are making the difficult transition to life in high school.  Please let me know if I can help in any way.”

Mr. Synan is at the high school on Monday mornings, and all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays.