Superintendent Erroll Davis has appointed 21 district employees as elementary and middle school principals with Atlanta Public Schools.
Filling vacancies left void by school leaders named in the recent state led CRCT report, the principals attended a leadership institute this week, and will begin serving in their respective schools immediately.
Newly appointed APS principals met today during the district's yearly New Principal Institute
The following interim principals have been appointed:
Barbara Lashley, Bethune Elementary School
Norlethia High, Deerwood Academy
Arica Johnson, Fickett Elementary School
Ennis Harvey, Finch Elementary School
Reginald Lawrence, West Manor Elementary School
Joyce Thomas, Brown Middle School
Robert Williams, Kennedy Middle School
Vonda McKeever, Benteen Elementary School
Peter Settelmayer, Dobbs Elementary School
Melanie Mitchell, Humphries Elementary School
Eunice Hutchins-Jones, Slater Elementary School
Mary Benton, East Lake Elementary School
Leah Goodwin, Coan Middle School
Paula Herrema, Inman Middle School
Michael McKnight, Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School
Sabrina Hayes, E. Rivers Elementary School
Abby McKinnon, Towns Elementary School
Gregory Parks, Usher/Collier Heights Elementary School
Meredith Kaltman,White Elementary School
Susan McClendon,Woodson Elementary School
Jerry Parker, BEST Academy
This group joins Keisha Gibbons, Interim Principal of Boyd Elementary School and Shanda Beadles, Interim Principal at Hutchinson Elementary School, appointed earlier this month to lead two of the district’s year round schools.
Superintendent Erroll Davis greets staff members at Boyd Elementary where Keisha Gibbons, (center), was recently appointed interim principal at the year round school.
“Leaders are responsible for the culture of an organization,” said Davis. “Good educators always put students first and we have many good, hardworking, committed educators.”
Superintendent Davis has also committed to filling the positions of all teachers implicated in the report, prior to the start of the school year. Setting the bar high for the upcoming school year, Davis wants educators to know, “There is nothing inconsistent in demanding high performance with high integrity. We expect both.”
Atlanta schools on a traditional school calendar begin classes on Monday, August 8, 2011.
By Tammy Garnes, APS Social Media Manager
10 comments
I’m sorry but I have to all but wonder how legit Mr. Errol Davis is. To appoint Donell Underdue is a major slap in the face. Was there not any research or background checks conducted on he along with the rest?
Who remembers when Underdue dressed in FULL DRAG for a CRCT school assembly during school hours? Skirt suit, heels, wig, and full makeup. The pictures were floating around the county at one point. Parents, teachers, guests, and students were all present as this was preplanned. He announced to the faculty and staff as well as the students that he would be dressing such a way for the assembly if all students were present during CRCT week.
Congratulations to Dr. McClendon who had a profound & positive affect on me as my mentor/department leader of the Urban Teacher Leadership Program at GSU! Your care and passion will supersede all things.
Congrats to all interim principals. I am so proud of Mr. J. Parker, Ms. N. High, Mrs. J. Thomas, and Ms. A Johnson. You could not have appointed better leaders!!!!
First I want to welcome Mr. Erroll Davis to Atlanta and to the APS as the interim superintendent. Congratulations to all interim principals as well. I am a native Atlantan, a product of APS, and a retired educator in this system after rendering more that 30 years of service as a high school and middle school social science teacher and teacher of the gifted. After retiring in 2002, I joined a team of highly capable APS retired teacher mentors -which was funded by Title 11. Our duties included one-on-one assistance and advice to new teachers in all areas until they became certified and even beyond. It was a very productive program. To our surprise, the program was expunged after a 8-9 year span of time. Some of my proteges have expressed their disappointment that a successful and much needed program was allowed to fold. Consequently, many of us retirees, who sincerely want to help our children become highly educated and productive citizens, continue to work part time in the APS as tutors, and as substitute teachers. I do not profess to speak for all of them but I believe that they will concur that we want to continue assisting in all or part of the above mentioned positions mainly because we want to assist in the growth and development of our youth. We are energized, experienced, certified, ready and willing to help as needed.
Congratulations to all interim Principals, but I would like to send a personal congratulations to Dr. Reginald Lawrence and Mr. Jerry Parker. I hope that you all will have a very successful year!! In addition, someone mentioned prayer. We do need prayer and I do extend my prayers to the entire school system.
I retired from APS in 2008 and I find all of this writing and talking about what has happened in the last year and who is the blame for what has happened in the past ten years to be an indication of “what did you expect when you took prayer out of the schools?”
Prayer gave you hope- You prayed to a higher divine power that would make a way if you only trusted in that power and keep the commandments. Study to show thyself approved. Teaching is a ministry. Bring prayer back into the schools and I guarantee you will see a quick return to ethics,integrity, love, compassion,doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. We would be workers who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. If the truth be told, the truth was not present in this scandal. It appears that as educators we did not know what to do or we did know what to do but refused to do it. It is one thing to know what to do. It’s another to do it. But for those who do it,those who chose to obey , a special reward awaits them. They are proud of the lives they molded, touched and some how nourished to be productive citizens.
God bless the ones who slipped out of our hands because we failed them. We must move on and make sure that we plan not to fail again. We must have a strategic action plan. Fool proof plan- void of all foolishness.
It has been said that a county is no stronger than its leader and I say that a school system is no stronger than its leaders. I welcome the new Superintendent Erroll Davis and I look forward to working in APS as I have been since I retired in 2008. I am also happy to see that several of the new interim principals have my endorsement and support. Hats off to Norlethia High of Deerwood Academy, Arica Johnson of Fickett Elementary, Ennis Harvey, Finch Elementary , Joyce Thomas of Brown Middle School, Vonda Mckeever of Benteen and Susan McClendon of Woodson Elementary. Superintendent Davis thank you and your cabinet for these leaders they will serve with integrity.
Congratualation Leah Goodwin of Coan Middle School. I know you will be a GREAT principal.
Congrats Dr. Michael McKnight!
Esther Weems will continue to be the interim principal at F. L. Stanton. The schools that had interim principals last year will continue with those principals for the most part this year.
Who is the principal at F.L. Stanton??