New Principals at North Fulton Schools Fulton County Schools has appointed several new principals in the North Fulton area for the 2014-15 school year: Elementary SchoolCrabapple Crossing Elementary: Rachel WilliamsHembree Springs Elementary: Laurie WoodruffMimosa Elementary: Ariane HolcombeNew Prospect Elementary: Mary RobsonRoswell North Elementary: Laura WebbSweet Apple Elementary: Andy Allison Middle SchoolCrabapple Middle: Rako MorrisseyHolcomb Bridge Middle: Chris Shearer High SchoolJohns Creek High: Gail JohnsonNorthview High: Brian Downey
Shakerag Elementary Announces Calendar Changes Shakerag Elementary School Principal Martin Neuhaus has announced additional teacher workdays for the 2014-15 school year. The school calendar has been adjusted to provide for Professional Learning days for all teachers as the school works toward TAG (Talented and Gifted) Endorsement for all teaching staff. In addition to the 2014-15 master calendar for Fulton County Schools, students at Shakerag Elementary School will not report for classes on September 29, November 21, February 13 and March 12. Shakerag Elementary School will host a Sneak Peak for the 2014-15 school year at 8:00-11:00 a.m., August 7. The first day of school is August 11.
Additional Students Named National Merit Scholars The National Merit Scholarship Corp. recently announced its final round of students who have been named National Merit Scholars. In addition to the prestigious National Merit Scholar distinction, these 2014 graduates earned National Merit scholarships from participating colleges. Students receiving a college-sponsored Merit Scholarship are: Lisette Corbin, Mili Raina, and Ryan W. Shea, Alpharetta High School; Christopher G. Misenheimer and Monisha Narayanan, Chattahoochee High School; Monica E. Bhatia and Nicholas S. Summers, Centennial High School; Shamita Nagalla, Samuel C. Sheriff, and Olivia Z. Song, Johns Creek High School; Olivia B. Sachs and Elizabeth F. Wilkes, North Springs Charter High School; Sophia Chen, Victoria M. Hiten, Anna L. Li, Namita E. Mathew, Sarika Sachdeva, Lindsey Whitesides, and Gaeun Wie, Northview High School; and Carlyn R. Gilbert and Tyler M. Whitt, Roswell High School. This announcement brings Fultons total to 43 National Merit Scholars in the 2014 competition. Earlier in the school year, eight students also were named National Achievement Scholars, a similar academic competition hosted by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. for African-American high school students. All of the students were first identified through exceptionally high scores on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which they took as juniors. They had a record of high academic performance, were endorsed and recommended by their school principal, and had earned high SAT scores confirming their earlier qualifying test performance.
North Fulton Teachers Certified as Georgia Master Teacher Three North Fulton teachers have earned Master Teacher certification for 2014. Susan Ali-Ahmad, Lake Windward Elementary School; Charlotte Melhorn Hayes, Findley Oaks Elementary School; and Gail Ritchie, Haynes Bridge Middle School are among the 24 teachers statewide to earn Master Teacher certification for 2014. The Georgia Master Teacher Certification Program, created by the General Assembly in 2005, identifies and recognizes educators who have positively influenced student achievement in the classroom and consistently demonstrated excellence. Georgia's Master Teacher Certification Program is coordinated by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC). Based on classroom performance on assessments, documentation of student growth and exemplary professional practices, superior teachers are designated as "Master Teachers" for a period of seven years. "This is great news for Fulton County Schools and for our teachers," said FCS Superintendent Robert Avossa. "It shows that they are recognized for their efforts to excel and for being a top performer. I'm really proud to see our district consistently make this list of excellent teachers."
North Fulton Students Awarded FitzGerald Scholarships North Fulton Council of PTAs has announced the three recipients of its annual Sally FitzGerald Scholarships. The winners were selected based on their demonstration of high standards in education and leadership in their school and community. The 2014 recipients of the scholarships are Priscilla Kim, a 2014 graduate of Johns Creek High School, and Erin Grant and Emily Schults, 2014 graduates of Roswell High School. Each scholarship winner was awarded $1,300 at the NFC PTA Presidents' & Principals' Luncheon.
Rotary Youth Leadership Award Recipients Named Independence High School students Parker Allen and Guadalupe Soberanis have been selected as recipients of the Rotary Youth Leadership Award from the Rotary Club of Alpharetta. As part of the award, the Alpharetta Rotary paid for all expenses for Parker and Guadalupe to attend the RYLA conference, held June 15-18 at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Ga.
Alpharetta High School Wins Four EMMYs Students from Alpharetta High School walked the red carpet with the Southeast's best television and high school video producers during the 2014 Southeast Regional EMMY Awards, held recently at Grand Hyatt in Buckhead. Alpharetta High School won four EMMY awards for Best Newscast for "Morning Show," awarded to students Ashley Marshall, Laura Anderson and Sydney Erickson; Best Talent, awarded to Ashley Marshall; Best Commercial for "Chorus Commercial," awarded to Thomas Meason and Tate Rehklau; and Best Writing, awarded to Austin Bailey and James Bernard for the sitcom, "The Edit Bay." Winners were selected by professional judging panels that scored the entries on the same criteria as the EMMY Awards: content, creativity and execution. The work must have been performed by students who were enrolled in high school during the 2013-14 academic year. Tracy Misner serves as video production teacher and advisor for Alpharetta High School.
Sweet Apple Elementary Raises $20,000 for Jump Rope for Heart Students at Sweet Apple Elementary School participated in a fundraiser for Jump Rope for Heart recently. As incentive, students who raised $50 or more for Jump Rope for Heart had the privilege of "taping" Coach Mitch Terry and teaching assistant Vicki Wilhelm to the gym wall. Sweet Apple Elementary School raised a total of $20,000 for Jump Rope for Heart!
Fulton Student-Athletes, Coach, High School Named Most Positive in Georgia North Fulton athletes and schools were recognized for their positive character in athletics at the inaugural Georgia Positive High School Athlete Awards, held recently at McCamish Pavilion on the campus of Georgia Tech. Positive Athlete is a subsidiary of Celebrate Positive, a group of high-character professional athletes who have teamed up to promote the benefits of positivity to young athletes around the world. In addition to excellence on the field, each nominated Positive Athlete was required to show such characteristics as an optimistic attitude; teammate encouragement; servant leadership; a heart for others; ability to admit imperfections; giving 100 percent all the time; and realizing the team is more important than the individual. Six hundred nominations, representing 65 different metro Atlanta area high schools, were submitted from coaches, principals, athletic directors, teachers, and parents. The 2013-2014 award winners from North Fulton schools were: Warren Cherry, Alpharetta High School, Boys Swimming; Rachel Deese, Roswell High School, Girls Tennis; Caroline Filan, Milton High School, Girls Swimming; and Madison Swan, Johns Creek High School, Volleyball. Johns Creek High School also was recognized as Most Positive High School. "Johns Creek High School exemplifies excellence in so many ways," said newly appointed principal Gail Johnson. "Being recognized as a school that epitomizes a positive spirit reinforces our school culture. We believe in developing student-athletes and all students to approach their pursuits with a mindset that focuses on a positive perspective." Athletes and executives from Georgia's professional and university athletic programs helped present the awards after speaking during the awards ceremony, including Hines Ward, former Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver and Super Bowl XL MVP for the Pittsburgh Steelers; Brian Finneran, former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver and on-air personality for 680 the Fan; Brian Jordan, former outfielder for Atlanta Braves and former safety for Atlanta Falcons; D.A. Lane, former player for Georgia Bulldogs Basketball; Homer Rice, former athletics director for Georgia Tech; and Alton Byrd, executive with the WNBA's Atlanta Dream.
Creek View Student to Compete at World Youth Chess Championship Arthur Guo, a second-grade student in Daphne Hamricks class at Creek View Elementary School, will represent the United States at the 2014 World Youth Chess Championship in South Africa this September. Arthur began chess tournament competitions two years ago; in 2012 he was the 1st Grade National Co-Champion, and in 2013 tied for 2nd place in the national competition. Currently, Arthur is ranked in 1st place for the Age 7 and Under division. Arthur also will be honored at the 2014 National K-12 Championship in Orlando, Fla., in December and has been selected to the 2015 All-American Chess Team.