Combined, North Atlanta High School’s 2010 graduates depart for college this fall with more than $23 million in scholarships — an all-time record. The class includes winners of some of the most prestigious college scholarship programs in the country, including Gates Millennium Scholars, National Merit Scholars, Posse Foundation Scholars, Coca-Cola Scholars and an Air Force Academy appointment. NAHS graduates also earned acceptances at a wide variety of college and university (view a list here). As the Class of 2010 moves to the next phase of their academic careers, they will take with them academic, athletic, artistic and life-lesson experiences from their four years at NAHS.
Nice story in the Buckhead Reporter recently. We’ll miss Dr. Frutiger, but know IB will thrive under the leadership of assistant principal and dean of academics (and NAHS Foundation board trustee) John Denine. Congrats John! Outtake below, or read the full article here.
“After 40 years with the Atlanta Public Schools and 26 in the APS’ International Baccalaureate program at Buckhead’s North Fulton and North Atlanta high schools, Frutiger recently announced his retirement as director of North Atlanta’s pioneering IB diploma program, an internationally recognized diploma program designed to give students global awareness.
“The school also enters a new era. Recently, APS announced that a new Buckhead high school will be built and that North Atlanta’s building on Northside Drive will be converted into a middle school.
“A reorganized International Baccalaureate program will be under the direction of John J. Denine, assistant principal and dean of academics. He will hold the title of Academy Leader, combining the dean’s and the IB director’s duties.”
North Atlanta High School is the only high school in Georgia that offers four years of Chinese language instruction, and the Atlanta office of N.C.-based law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC , is helping our Chinese program stay out front.
Last year Womble Carlyle contributed $1,000 to the Foundation to fund much-needed Chinese textbooks for students. On April 27, attorney Guanming Fang (pictured in yellow jacket), team leader of Womble Carlyle’s China Initiative, stopped by the school to lead a lively discussion (in Mandarin and English) with North Atlanta’s IB Chinese students about how to become a lawyer with a focus on international business.
North Atlanta IB Chinese teacher Dr. Fangxia Zhao noted, “Our students were very interested in [Ms. Fang's] career. They asked her many questions in both Chinese and English. Of course, Ms. Fang responded in Chinese and English, and skillfully corrected the students’ Chinese grammar mistakes.”
This collaboration is a perfect example of the North Atlanta High School Foundation’s mission. Our deepest thanks go to Guanming Fang and all of the attorneys at Womble Carlyle for their help in creating a richer learning experience for North Atlanta students.
North Atlanta sophomore and International Baccalaureate 
student Sultana Begum speaks five languages, so it sort of makes sense that she has made it her personal project to bring all races and cultures together at North Atlanta. Read about how she did it in this Buckhead Reporter story about Begum, who won the Atlanta Princeton Prize in Race Relations for 2010, becoming the first public school student in the award’s six-year history to win the top prize.
So we don’t have the final tally in on this year’s Red Hot Jazz gala (we’ll post them as soon as they’re in), but even without the official numbers, we can safely say it was a total success. Hundreds of attendees showed up to honor APS Superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall, catch up with fellow parents or alums, celebrate North Atlanta’s progress — including hitting a new high in college scholarships this year (more on this in an upcoming post) — and of course, eat, drink, dance and shop the auction. Principal Mark MyGrant was on his game again as live auctioneer, raising thousands in minutes, and a BIG thank you goes out to gala committee chair Jessica Gluck for her leadership and to the Red Hot Jazz Committee for putting together an amazing event. Check back soon for the official event recap to see how much we raised for the school.
If you’ve been looking for a way to support the Foundation’s efforts at North Atlanta High School, now’s your chance. Tickets are on sale for the 5th annual Black, Silver and Red Hot Jazz Gala on Saturday, April 24th at the Temple in Midtown Atlanta. The event brings together parents, alumni and community leaders for fellowship and fundraising. Proceeds from Red Hot Jazz will benefit each of the school’s small learning communities: Business & Learning, The Center for the Arts, and International Studies.
We’ll be entertained by the award-winning North Atlanta Jazz Band (if you haven’t heard them you will be impressed) and enjoy dinner and an auction for fantastic deals as we host our honored guest, Atlanta Public Schools superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall.
At $55 per person or just $100 per couple, this event really is the best deal in town. REGISTER ONLINE TODAY!
The North Fulton High School Class of 1989 celebrated its 20th reunion last summer and recently donated $500 in proceeds from their reunion festivities to the North Atlanta High School Foundation. Brickson Diamond wrote this in his reunion planning committee’s letter to the Foundation:
“We hope that this gift will help the successor school to our alma mater take one more step toward being the best high school in the Southeast.”
Many thanks to the North Fulton Class of ‘89 for their generosity! If your class is planning a reunion, be sure to let us know. The Foundation can help schedule a tour of the renovated high school so you and your classmates can get an idea of how much progress the school is making and rekindle some old memories, too.
It’s confirmed. Atlanta Public Schools has announced its intent to purchase land in Buckhead and build a new, state-of-the-art high school for North Atlanta High School students. APS has located a piece of property large enough to accommodate plans for the new school, which include a wide array of classroom and athletic spaces and the necessary parking. APS is not disclosing the property’s location until negotiations are complete.
According to a backgrounder posted by APS, “it generally takes approximately 18 months to build a high school.” The system is shooting to have the property acquired by the end of this year, so North Atlanta students could be in the new school as soon as the 2012-2013 school year.
Overcrowding at Sutton Middle School is the driving force behind APS’s move. Families in Sutton’s attendance zone increasingly have chosen to send their children to their neighborhood school, and APS expects this trend to continue far beyond Sutton’s current capacity. With that in mind, the existing North Atlanta campus will become a new middle school for the district to help offset this overcrowding.
For the latest installment of the Buckhead Business Association’s Brown Bag Lunch series at North Atlanta on Jan. 26, students were treated to pizza and Steak. Steak Shapiro, that is. Shapiro is president of 790 the Zone Sports Talk Radio and co-host of the station’s “Mayhem in the A.M.” show. While 40 students enjoyed slices from Pizzeria Venti, Steak shared how he discovered his passion in life, set goals and ultimately achieved his dream of running a successful sports talk radio station. He emphasized a recurring theme of “planning to work and working the plan.”
In the end, students had the chance to see how a commitment to a dream can pay off, or in this case, put you in the zone! Many thanks to Buckhead Business Association, Pizzeria Venti and Steak Shapiro of 790 the Zone for making it happen.
On Thursday, January 21 at 6:30 p.m. the Warriors will how NORTH ATLANTA NOW to show our rising class of North Atlanta freshmen (Class of 2014) what to look forward to at their neighborhood high school. The PTSA invites North Atlanta parents, students and alumni to help the school prepare for this showcase. Set-up, clean-up and decorating, “meeting and greeting”… how would you like to contribute? Contact Amy Durham at amycm@bellsouth.net to find out how you can help.
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