It is hoped that the principal-selection process at North Atlanta High School will culminate in a new principal candidate being selected and presented to the APS board by the end of May.

NAHS faculty members were briefed about the accelerated principal-selection process during a faculty meeting held on May 1. Dr. Sidney Baker, Regional K-12 Executive Director of Schools, North Region.  Baker is acting as the executive director of the North Atlanta stakeholder panel that will lead the process of selecting a new principal. Current NAHS Principal Gene Taylor is slated to resign on June 30.

Baker informed school faculty of the considerable interest in the NAHS principal post. At the time of the May 1 faculty meeting, there had been 145 applicants to the posted job.

The comparative speed associated with the principal selection process is rooted in the panel’s desire to have a recommended candidate set up for an interview with new APS Superintendent Maria Carstarphen before the school graduation on May 25. An interview during this soon-coming date would make possible the submission of a principal candidate to the APS board for its June meeting. Any delays in the process would mean a candidate could not be approved until the board’s subsequent meeting in July.

Selection committee members include PTSA, Local School Council, NAHS Foundation, NAPPS and other parent representatives as well as teachers, education support staff and the principal of Jackson Elementary. The importance of the selection is not lost on any stakeholder group, said Joleen Neel, vice-chair of the North Atlanta Local School Council

“The best candidate is part cheerleader, part community leader, part politician and a tireless advocate for all the students, parents and teachers who make up the North Atlanta community,” Neel said. “The fact that interest is so high in the position speaks volumes about our reputation. We just now need someone who will build on this reputation for excellence and take it even higher.”