North Atlanta High School

North Atlanta looking South

North Atlanta High School
File:NAHSlogo.jpg
Address
2875 Northside Drive Atlanta , Georgia United States
Information
Type	Public (magnet) secondary
Motto	Diversity, Scholarship, Community
Established	1991
School board	Atlanta Public Schools
School district	Atlanta Public Schools
Principal	Mark Mygrant
Faculty	79
Grades	9–12
Number of students	1,300
Color(s)	Silver and Black
Mascot	Warriors
Yearbook	Invictus
Website	www.northatlantahigh.org

North Atlanta High School is a high school of approximately 1,300 students in Buckhead, an upscale area of Atlanta, Georgia, 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 latter, however, saw its last class during the 2007-2008 school year. Therefore, the International Studies Program is the only magnet program at North Atlanta.

History

North Fulton High School (1920-1991)

The Atlanta Board of Education formed North Fulton High School in September 1920. Population grew rapidly during the 1920s along the Peachtree Road corridor, which was considered 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.

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.

Northside High School (1950-1991)

Northside High School opened in 1950 at the current location of the NAHS building. 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). However, it was recently closed. It can seat 110 people. A magnet program in the Performing Arts was started in 1972 (citation needed).

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 dollar renovation.

In 1998, North Atlanta was designated as a Georgia School of Excellence from the Georgia Department of Education.

After the 2001-2002 school year, Harper-Archer High School closed. Since there wasn't adequate capacity at Douglass, 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. As of the 2008-2009 school year, the incoming 9th grade class will be zoned to Douglass High School (see Feeder Patterns).

Starting in 2004, Newsweek rated North Atlanta as being one of the best high schools in the country for three consecutive years.

Campus

North Atlanta High School sits on a 10-acre campus on the corner of Northside Drive and Kingswood Lane. The campus only consists of one main building surrounding a courtyard. However, due to the distinct floor plan of the building, it has a grand total of 5 floors in the main section.

In addition to these, there is a large hall that starts at the Northside Drive entrance (almost at grade with the third floor) and steadily decline down the length of the school to the second. In this section, there is the media center, main office, theatre, lecture hall, and the former planetarium.

On the northeast side of the building, the curving wall is entirely composed of granite. At the lecture hall, there is a display of flags from around 20 different nations.

Outside of the building, North Atlanta has a track, a multi-purpose field, and a baseball field that APS uses for many of its games.

Academics

North Atlanta's curriculum model is the International Baccalaureate program. In 1982, it became the first IB school to open in the Southeastern United States. All students in the 9th and 10th grades are in the IB Middle Years Programme. All students have the option of studying the IB diploma. However, it requires an entrance exam to enter, and those who do not enter the IB program pursue the International Business Diploma.

Foreign Language is one of the focal areas of study in the IB program. At North Atlanta, four foreign languages are available to all students: Spanish, French, Arabic, and Mandarin Chinese. It was the first school in APS to offer Mandarin (Toomer Elementary and Coan Middle now offer it) and remains the only school in the City of Atlanta that offers Arabic.

Small Learning Communities

A View of the Center for the Arts office (left) and the Lecture Hall (Right)

The model for North Atlanta and all APS high schools is Small Learning Communities. A Small Learning Community chooses an area of emphasis to teach (usually for a career), but all of the state and district required classes are still taught. They each have approximately 400 students, and they are each led by an assistant principal and a coordinator. North Atlanta has three Small Learning Communities: the Center for the Arts, the Center for Business, Leadership, and Hospitality; and the Center for International Studies.

Center for the Arts

The Center of the Arts was the former Performing Arts magnet program. Since it is no longer a magnet program, the enrollment for this SLC primarily consists of students zoned fot North Atlanta. However, there is still a four year program emphasizing in the fine arts and the performing arts. Apart from English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies, the Center for the Arts offers the following classes: studio art(comprehensive); concert, jazz & marching bands; orchestra & chamber music; chorus & voice; guitar; piano; theatrical plays and musicals; drama tech; and dance.

Center for Business, Leadership, and Hospitality

The Business, Leadership, and Hospitality includes the departments of Business Education, Family and Consumer Science (FACS), and JROTC.

This SLC also houses a culinary studio as well as the technology department.

Center for International Studies

The Center for International Studies (CIS) was founded in 1982 by the Atlanta Board of Education. It serves as the magnet program for North Atlanta. For its first decade, the Center was located at North Fulton High School. In 1991, North Fulton and Northside High Schools merged to form North Atlanta High School. The Center for International Studies was incorporated into the curriculum of the new school and has continued to thrive. The International Studies magnet is a college preparatory program that seeks to develop foreign language competence and to instill intercultural and global awareness through humanities-based, interdisciplinary study. IS students have the option to choose to pursue the IB Diploma Programme during their Junior and Senior years. The IB Middle Years Programme, which serves all NAHS students in the 9th and 10th grades, is also administered by this SLC. Any IS students who do not participate in the IB Diploma Programme learns under the International Business Program.

Advanced Placement

There are several AP classes open to North Atlanta students. They are: AP Music Theory, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP French, AP Spanish, AP English Literature and Composition (12^{th), AP American History, AP Economics, AP Psychology, AP Government, AP Human Geography, AP Calculus, and AP Statistics.}

Student Activities

Clubs

There are several dozen extraxurricular activities open to North Atlanta students. Among these are:

Athletics

North Atlanta High School has many athletic organizations as well. All of the home games are played at Grady Stadium. The school has the following teams during each season:

Fall sports

• Cheerleading- Varsity & JV
• Cross Country- Varsity
• Fastpitch Softball- Varsity
• Football- Varsity & JV

Winter sports

• Basketball- Varsity & JV
• Cheerleading- Varsity & JV
• Competitive Cheerleading- Varsity
• Riflery- Varsity
• Swimming- Varsity
• Volleyball- Varsity
• Wrestling- Varsity

Spring sports

• Baseball- Varsity & JV
• Golf- Varsity
• Soccer- Varsity & JV
• Tennis- Varsity
• Track and Field- Varsity

Feeder schools

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

Middle School(s): Sutton Middle

According to APS, Douglass High School now has space to accommodate the portion of the Boyd, Scott, and Carson districts in the North Atlanta districts. Starting in the 2008-09 school year, students in this area will attend Douglass instead of North Atlanta. However, this will only impact rising 9th graders; all of the current students from this zone will remain at North Atlanta.

Notable alumni

NOTE: This section includes alumni from Northside and North Fulton High Schools.

• Johnta Austin - singer
• Stanley Blalock - 1984 Olympic Team, placed 2nd in 100 meter heat U. S. Olympic Trials
• "RuPaul" Andre Charles - Singer, Dancer, Model & Entertainer
• James Dickey - author of Deliverance
• Jasmine Guy- actress
• Bobby Valentino - singer
• Derek "Fonzworth Bentley" Watkins - Entertainer
• Antavius Weems - Attorney

External links

• North Atlanta High website
• North Atlanta High Boys Soccer Team