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By admin, January 12, 2013

NAHS Foundation community, many of you may remember Coach Daryl Aftel, longtime Northside and North Atlanta athletics coach and a “man for all seasons.” He mentored many of us along the way, in the gruff way that those who know him surely remember. The letter below came to us from Class of ’92 Warrior Jenny Stone, whose brother suffered from a disability made just a little bit easier by Coach Aftel’s mentorship. If you can help Coach Aftel, be sure to use the link below to make donations directly.

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“Hi there and Happy New Year to you! I am sending messages to everyone I can think of that has a connection to Northside, North Fulton and North Atlanta that may be able to help Coach Darryl Aftel.

The situation is that Darryl is in a bit of a dire situation with regards to his health- he was diagnosed with kidney disease and may need to be added to the transplant list. As a result of his failing health, he is having to leave (essentially abandon) his condo and move into an apartment in Virginia near his sister. In order to meet his immediate needs, I am hoping we can come together to make individual donation gifts to help him with the cost of the move, deposits and rent on an apartment, and the like. The moving expenses alone are around $1,600 and then the deposits and first month’s rent are an additional $2,000, I believe. He, then, needs to come up with additional funds to cover his insurance deductible of $4k.

This is close to the “worst case scenario” for him; no family here that can swoop in to help him and because of high medical bills, very very limited financial resources.

If you are able to help him with a donation, and can get money, a fuel card, a grocery card, etc. to him before the moving truck comes (which is on the 21st) you can send it to him directly at:

Darryl Aftel
1814 Ashborough Road
Condo B
Marietta, GA 30067
(*After the moving truck comes on the 21st, I will get an updated mailing address for him in Virginia.)
Home: 770-426-6879

Additionally, a donation site has been created:
http://www.gofundme.com/1sgzog

I feel just so sad for the state he’s in. As you know, Aftel was a HUGE part of my brother’s life and was one of the few sources of constant joy for Hank. I wish I could just write a check to him for a million bucks. But, until that day, I will try to reach out to all the resources I can.

I will keep you posted on additional fund raising efforts we work on in the upcoming months. Thank you so very much for all you can do to assist.

Jenny Stone
Class of 1992″

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By admin, April 16, 2012

This year Johnny Liu, the owner of Café at Pharr, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of a restaurant in which he literally grew up.

Liu’s parents, Mike and Shirley, established the business on Pharr Road in Buckhead in 1992, first as a bakery then transitioning to a café the following year.

Cafe at Pharr owner Johnny Liu plans to take his family business into the future after celebrating the establishment’s 20th anniversary.

Liu fondly recalls the now-closed original location where he and his sister, Jenny, while too young to work, would occasionally be unhelpful by throwing dough at one another.

Then, as a student at North Atlanta High School, Liu learned to bake bread.

“The deal was, if I got a car, I’d have to work weekends and bake bread before school,” he said. “Everyone thought it was so cool. I’d show up at high school with fresh-baked croissants.”

In 1998, Liu’s parents were ready to sell the business and retire.

Liu, then a recent high school graduate, said he was ready to run the café despite knowing the challenges.

“They took everything to open [the café],” he said. “It was hard-earned money because they were doing odd jobs to support the business. I was definitely proud as a kid my parents owned it.”

Flash forward to today, and Liu is preparing to open a sixth location of the café in May in Vinings.

Other locations include Peachtree Road, Miami Circle and Chastain Square restaurants in Buckhead, a Westside café on Chattahoochee Avenue and the new Baci Restaurant & Bar by Cafe at Pharr in Brookhaven.

Liu attributes the success of his business predominantly to the café’s customers, some of whom he met as teenagers and who now bring in children of their own.
“Also, we don’t try too hard,” Liu said. “We’re very simple and we don’t try to be something we’re not.”

Carlton Davis and her daughter Louise Cook, both Buckhead residents, enjoy that simplicity.

“The thing about their food is it’s consistent. You know what you’re getting,” Davis said. “Everybody’s friendly. They know what our order is and they always bring me my tea with extra lemon.”

They both favor the celery chicken salad sandwich on wheat which Cook, now a student at the University of Georgia in Athens, says she looks forward to during every visit home.

“We literally meet here every time. We just say, ‘I’ll meet you at noon,’ and we both come here,” Cook said. “I think it’s the perfect combination of comfort food and healthy food, so you’re satisfied without feeling guilty.”

Liu says he is scoping out a location for one final Café at Pharr, either in Dunwoody or Virginia-Highland.

Afterward, he plans to focus on other ventures and is in the early stages of opening a crawfish restaurant in Buckhead.

By Gloria Love
glove@neighbornewspapers.com

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By admin,

The mission of North Atlanta Parents for Public Schools (NAPPS) is to support and promote the North Atlanta cluster of eight schools, in our local community and beyond. In furtherance of that mission, we have been meeting with local Board of Education representatives, PTA presidents and leaders from every school in the cluster to discuss the APS demographic study and its preliminary draft recommendations for our community. While each school has its own specific concerns, our entire cluster is committed to four basic principles:

1. The complete vertical integration of our International Baccalaureate curriculum, in place at every cluster school, should be maintained.
2. All high school students in the cluster should be located on the new North Atlanta High campus.
3. The diversity of our middle school and high school is an essential part of our children’s education and should be maintained. The diversity of families and neighborhoods gives each elementary school its own special character which also should be maintained.
4. Natural boundaries, traffic patterns, and logistics determine neighborhoods and should be considered as part of any rezoning within the cluster.

We believe these principles should guide our community, and APS as a whole, as we work together to meet the needs of each and all our students. For example, maintaining vertical integration of the curriculum means no child will be forced to move into or out of the IB stream. Locating all high school students on the new campus means the long‐range site plan will be modified to anticipate future capacity needs. Maintaining the current diversity of each cluster school means students will not be segregated by race, ethnicity, or economics. Considering natural boundaries and logistics means no neighborhood will be rezoned across a major highway or industrial area.

We are privileged to have strong, committed parent leaders at every school in our cluster. We thank them for their gifts of time and energy, and we applaud their spirit of cooperation and mutual support. We commend these four principles to the NAPPS community, the Board of Education, APS administration, and the community at large, as we join hands to address concerns across our community and city for the benefit of every student.

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By admin, July 7, 2011

The results of the state investigation released Tuesday showed no evidence of changed answers, test-tampering or coverup at North Atlanta High School or any of the eight schools in the North Atlanta cluster. This came as no surprise. But, the state report still was a bitter disappointment to our Foundation and anyone else with a stake in the success of our city schools. In addition to enriching our students’ educational experiences, the mission of our Foundation, and others like ours across the district, is to build support for our community schools. The North Atlanta High School Foundation was founded on the idea that every community needs thriving public schools. Unfortunately, this week’s news only reinforced negative perceptions that undermine our city  schools’ true potential.

That said, positive change for APS starts with honest assessment, no matter how brutal it may be, and the state’s report provides that in abundance. As a Foundation, our mission remains unchanged. We are proud of the students of North Atlanta. We are proud of the faculty of North Atlanta. And we are proud to be part of a cluster of public schools filled with faculty who showed integrity every step of the way. Ultimately, APS will overcome this challenge. In the meantime, we will redouble our efforts to support North Atlanta High School’s leaders, teachers and students on the road to becoming the best public high school in the Southeast.

Here is an excerpt from the official media statement issued by NAPPS via NAPPS chair and NAHS Foundation trustee Cynthia Briscoe Brown:

North Atlanta Parents for Public Schools (NAPPS) is gratified that authorities found no evidence of changed answers, test-tampering, or coverup at any of the eight schools in our cluster (two teachers were cited for possible improper reading of test questions). However, we are deeply disturbed about the systemwide results of the CRCT investigation. We expect our teachers and administrators to be models for the kind of adults we want our children to become: people of honesty and integrity who understand that true success comes to those who try hard and give their best in every endeavor. We applaud the vast majority of APS employees who choose to follow the right path, and we deplore the actions of the small percentage who made bad choices. We trust and expect that Interim Superintendent Davis and the Board of Education will act swiftly and fairly to impose appropriate consequences for all inappropriate actions.

As parents and citizens, we have a responsibility to assist every child in Atlanta Public Schools who did not receive sufficient instruction and attention to master the academic material. We commit to use our best efforts to help provide every affected student with all the academic and emotional support they need to achieve genuine success in school and in life. We look forward to continuing our partnership with APS administration, the Board of Education, and all the dedicated teachers and staff who truly care about our children and work hard each day to help every one fulfill their potential.

What will you do to move North Atlanta forward?

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By admin, June 10, 2011

Recently the Foundation helped fund North Atlanta’s first robotics team, the Warbotz. It was money well spent. Check out this WSB-TV story on their early success in national competition.

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By admin, September 22, 2010

Back in June, the Foundation made a $1,400 grant to fund four student scholarships to the APS Juilliard Summer Jazz Residency. Imagine it: dozens of eager young jazz musicians from across APS in the care of 12 world-class instructors from Juilliard. You can read more about the program here, but this note from North Atlanta Jazz student Dalian Bryan, one of the four scholarship recipients, really says it all. This is why the Foundation exists — to give students more of the rich learning experiences they deserve.

To the North Atlanta Foundation,

I would like to sincerely thank everyone for helping me achieve this wonderful musical experience. It was truly an experience of a lifetime. In my entire musical career, I have never worked with anyone as amazing as these teachers were. From the one-on-one time with your instrument specialist to jamming with students your age who are just as eager to learn as much as they can about jazz as you are. This was an amazing experience and more importantly, the lessons I learned from them will last a lifetime.

Sincerely yours,

Dalian Bryan

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By admin, April 29, 2010

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.

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By admin, December 11, 2009

Whether you attended Northside, North Fulton or North Atlanta High School, you probably had a teacher, coach or administrator who went out of their way to make an impact on your life as a student — or as a person. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking about an amazing teacher who influenced my life in a big way. If you have a fond memory of a teacher or coach, please post a comment to share your stories and memories with us.