North Atlanta High School

North Atlanta High School
Address
4111 Northside Parkway
Atlanta, Georgia
United States
Coordinates 33°49′57″N 84°24′22″W / 33.832621°N 84.406244°WCoordinates: 33°49′57″N 84°24′22″W / 33.832621°N 84.406244°W
Information
Type Public secondary
Motto Diversity, Scholarship, Community
Established 1991
School board Atlanta Public Schools
School district Atlanta Public Schools
Principal Curtis Douglass
Grades 9–12
Number of students 1600
Color(s) Silver and Black
Mascot Warriors
Average SAT scores 1442
Yearbook Invictus
Website North Atlanta High School
North Atlanta, facing south

North Atlanta High School is a high school of approximately 1,600 students in Buckhead, the northern part of Atlanta, United States. The school is a part of Atlanta Public Schools.

The school was formed after North Fulton High School combined with Northside High School during the 1991–1992 school year. This merger resulted in North Atlanta High School being the only high school in Atlanta Public Schools (APS) to host two magnet programs: the International Studies Program and the Performance Arts. The Performance Arts program is now technically defunct but North Atlanta continues to encourage students' artistic abilities and talents in performance.

History

Northside High School (1950–1991)

Fulton County School Board opened Northside High School in 1950 at the current location of the NAHS building. Northside High School became part of the APS when the property was annexed into the city of Atlanta. The school colors were purple and white and the school nickname was the Tigers. In 1969, APS opened a planetarium at the Northside campus. Originally, it was one out of three planetariums owned by Atlanta Public Schools (the other two being at Fulton and Harper High). It can seat 110 people.[1] A magnet program in the Performing Arts was started in 1972.

North Atlanta High School (1991–)

In September 1991, by consolidating North Fulton High School and Northside High School, the Atlanta Board of Education formed North Atlanta High School. The students attended the North Fulton campus until June 1994, while the Northside campus underwent a $15 million renovation. In 1998, North Atlanta was designated as a Georgia School of Excellence from the Georgia Department of Education.[2] After the 2001–2002 school year, West Fulton High School and Harper-Archer High School closed. Since there wasn't adequate capacity at Douglass High School, the closest school, the students in the Scott and Boyd Elementary school districts were rezoned to North Atlanta. This area encompassed both Hollywood Courts and the former Perry Homes. Starting in 2004, Newsweek rated North Atlanta as being one of the best high schools in the country for three consecutive years.[3] In Spring of 2008, the Aga Khan visited and gave a speech at North Atlanta as a part of the annual IB conference.

North Fulton High School (1920–1991)

The Fulton County School Board formed North Fulton High School in September 1920. Population grew rapidly during the 1920s along the Peachtree Road corridor, which was considered the north of the city at that time, and the census tract of Buckhead increased from 2,603 in 1920 to 10,356 in 1930. North Fulton was the first and for a number of years the only high school serving the urban and predominantly affluent Peachtree Road corridor. APS took control of the school when the area was annexed into the city of Atlanta.

North Fulton High School started out as a segregated school under the state-mandated system that prevailed until the early 1960s. The school reached a racial balance under the majority-minority program. In the 1970s the school developed a more racially balanced faculty as well.

Through the years, North Fulton acquired a large international student body, and ranked at the top academically. In 1981, North Fulton became the site for the School of International Studies, a magnet program that became nationally recognized. Today this program continues at North Atlanta High School.

North Atlanta High School

As of the 2008–2009 school year, the incoming 9th grade class will be zoned to Douglass High School. In 2008, North Atlanta began its partnership with the Juilliard School. Juilliard began its inaugural Summer Jazz program in June 2008, and it plans to continue the camp in future years. In the summer of 2009, APS is starting its $40 million renovation on the building. Phase 1 will include the expansion and modernization of the instructional classrooms, while Phase 2 will include the grounds and rooms such as the theatre and the cafeteria.


Recent developments

Phase two of the SPLOST 3 renovation, in the summer of 2010, included renovations and modernization of all non-instructional facilities such as the media center and athletic areas.

The 2010–2011 school year saw the third wave of Atlanta Public Schools' High School Transformation Initiative. The new changes included extending the IB Diploma Programme to each SLC, eliminating the status of a magnet program from the International Studies SLC, and other initiatives aimed at increasing student achievement. A fourth SLC was tentative for the transformation.

In order to alleviate overcrowding at Sutton Middle School, APS proposed to build a new state-of-the-art high school in Buckhead and use the current NAHS building as a new middle school for Buckhead. Currently, Sutton is the only one. The new school was completed for the 2012–2013 school year.[4]

APS purchased a former IBM office building in Buckhead, along with its 56 acres (23 ha) wooded campus. The 11-story building, which straddles a retention pond and previously housed 5000 IBM employees in its 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2), was converted to a new school for 2400 students. The parking deck is used for parking, while the more distant parking lots have become a track and field. Another building, deemed unsuitable for the school, was imploded on October 27, 2012, and will be rebuilt for a theater and gymnasium, among other purposes. The school was built by J.E. Dunn.

Campus

North Atlanta High School relocated to the former IBM building on Northside Parkway at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. The new 56-acre campus is just 3.6 miles north of the former campus on the corner of Northside Drive and Kingswood Lane. The 11-story building provides nearly 4,000 square feet of instructional space. The top eight floors are dedicated to the four small learning communities within NAHS, while the bottom three floors house the cafeteria, library, and administrative offices. The campus includes a retention pond near the Chattahoochee River. The second building has been razed and will be turned into a smaller building for a gym, theater, and 600-seat auditorium. The old campus is now the home for Sutton Middle School. [5]

Student activities

The North Fulton Quiz Bowl team won the 1990 AA state title in the tournament sanctioned by the Georgia Academic Team Association, and Northside won the 1991 AAA title. In 1998, the North Atlanta Quiz Bowl team won the state championship[6] before going on to finish with a No. 16 national ranking at the Tournament of Champions in Chicago, Illinois.[7] The team also earned a berth in the 2000 Tournament of Champions.[8]


Athletics

State championships

Northside
North Fulton
North Atlanta

Feeder schools

Elementary Schools: Bolton Academy, Brandon Elementary, Garden Hills Elementary, Jackson Elementary, Smith Elementary, and E. Rivers Elementary.

Middle School: Sutton Middle

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ North Atlanta Planetarium Home Page
  2. ↑ Atlanta Public Schools – Schools of Excellence
  3. ↑ America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ http://http//www.ajc.com/business/new-north-atlanta-high-1455123.html
  6. ↑ "GATA History". Georgia Academic Team Association. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  7. ↑ "1998 Tournament of Champions rankings". Quiz Bowl Wiki. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "2000 Tournament of Champions rankings". Quiz Bowl Wiki. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  9. ↑ "GHSA Football Champions". GHSA.net. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  10. ↑ "GHSA Boys Track Champions". GHSA.net. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  11. ↑ "GHSA Swimming Champions". GHSA.net. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  12. ↑ "GHSA Football Champions". GHSA.net. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  13. ↑ "GHSA Boys Cross Country Champions". GHSA.net. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  14. ↑ "GHSA Boys Basketball Champions". GHSA.net. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  15. ↑ "GHSA Boys Track Champions". GHSA.net. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  16. ↑ "GHSA Girls Basketball Champions". GHSA.net. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  17. ↑ "GHSA Football Champions". GHSA.net. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  18. ↑ "RuPaul bio". RuPaul website. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  19. ↑ "David Cross". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  20. ↑ "James Dickey biography". wikipedia. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  21. ↑ "Jasmine Guy". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  22. ↑ "In Memory of Elbert Earl Patton, Jr.". obits.dignitymemorial.com. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  23. ↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MilnBi21.htm. Retrieved 13 September 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ↑ "Bobby Valentino – Biography". Hip Hop Lead. Retrieved 5 May 2010.

External links