And it appears to be benefiting teens in a region badly hurt by the state's manufacturing losses.
Playford International College started the school year with a new name, a new uniform and some innovative new rules.
It's 9am at Playford International, and school will not start for another half-hour.
Principal Rob Knight introduced the new, later starting time this year to address high numbers of students showing up to class late.
He says the strategy is working and it has also had some surprising results.
"That has meant that we've addressed a lot of the issues that kids naturally have as blockers for getting to school early. They can sleep in till half past eight and still arrive at 9.30 in time for their first lesson. But what we've found is that we're getting as many kids here at half past eight in the morning now as what we had last year. But they're here for different reasons. They're here for that social time before school."
The later start is popular with students, as Year 11 pupil Simon Liu explains.
"I've been able to get more sleep out of this, and this has actually improved my grades, I think, because, last year, I've been getting quite a bit of B's, but, lately, I've been getting straight A's now."
The school, formerly known as Fremont-Elizabeth High School, is just down the road from the Holden plant that has been shedding workers and will close for good next year.
Historically, as Rob Knight explains, it has been one of the worst-performing in South Australia.
"One of the things that struck me very early on last year when I arrived at the school was the lack of aspiration of our kids. And, uh, for many kids in the community who don't have good role-modelling at home, who don't have parents with a strong educational background, just that aspiration for kids to want to achieve highly and go to university beyond school was very limited. So that was certainly something we had to address. At the end of 2014, for example, we ended up with only one student who got an ATAR high enough to get to university."
Year 10 student Nyang Ataing says the school had its share of social problems.
"I was actually really excited to start high school, but, when I came here, it was kind of okay, but there were a lot of fights, and there was a lot of drama."
Classes, and the way they are taught, have also been transformed.
In the lower grades, maths and science classes have been combined, and the students are streamed by ability rather than age.
Rob Knight, the principal, admits such a departure from traditional education would not be appropriate at every school.
But he says drastic measures were needed to address the school's poor attendence and academic record.
"And engagement is about motivation, you know. Why do kids want to go to school? And they've got to be motivated to come to school. That means that they enjoy being at school, that means that they want to learn, that means they're stimulated by their learning environment and what their teachers are offering. And if you can pull all that together, then students will naturally want to come to school. For a community such as ours, that has a lot of deep-seated social issues, it's not good enough just to put a target in place and try to force kids to come to school."
Matt Krieg has taught at the school for the past 10 years.
He tells SBS the school's new approach has been overwhelmingly positive.
"They seem to be more engaged. And, obviously, as we know, increased engagement leads to increased attendance, increased wellbeing and an overall increase in student outcomes."
Mr Knight has been carefully monitoring changes in student attendance to see if the changes have had the desired effect.
He says early indicators suggest they have.
"One of the issues that we've experienced at the school for a long time is an attendance rate in the mid-to-upper 60 per cents. Last year, we got that up around 75 per cent. And this year, I'm really pleased that, after a term, we're above 90 for the first time in the living memory of this school."
And, he says, academic performance has also shown improvement.
"Our results at the end of Term 1 already show that we've had a 6 per cent increase in A-grade standard work compared to last year, and that's significant, because that's around about 300 more grades at the highest level."
Students Simon Liu and Nyang Ataing say they have noticed differences, too.
"Now, with the new curriculum, that changed. I've seen more people studying."
"I think maybe something that's more chilled is the uniforms. And more people wear the uniform now."
But for Year 9 student Bradley Drummond, the best thing about the school's new approach has nothing to do with better grades.
Instead, he says, it has helped separate his own future from the school's previous reputation for low academic achievement.
"When you tell someone you go to Fremont, you kind of get that look ... like, it's just how we're perceived. So, to have that name change is nice. I think I'm a good person, and the rest of the students are, so to have that negative thing taken away from our school is good."
There will be more changes to come, the state government recently awarded the school a 10-million-dollar grant to upgrade facilities.
