North Atlanta High School Principal J. Scott Bursmith will leave the school in July to take a position as the principal of a new high school in Cobb County.
In a letter of resignation dated April 13, Bursmith told North Atlanta families on July 1 ,2007 Mark MyGrant, the current principal at Sutton Middle School, would take over his position as principal of the high school.
“I thank you for all of the support you have given me and the opportunity to have worked with you at North Atlanta High School,” Bursmith wrote.
Bursmith has been with the school for two years and has made many improvements.
North Atlanta High School has met the Adequate Yearly Progress in accordance with the No Child Left Behind act for the past three years, and is the only high school in their district that is designated an “AYP School of Distinction” and has met the AYP three years in a row.
Bursmith said since he has been at North Atlanta 93 percent of the students have gone on to college, the athletics department has started on the upswing and a school dress code has been successfully implemented (no jeans, no t-shirts) impacting the “professional attitude” of the students.
The school has also been restructured into three learning communities: international relations, arts and business and the amount of eighth graders continuing on from Sutton Middle School to North Atlanta High School has increased from 50 to 80 percent.
“There has really been a transformation here and I’ve been very proud of that,” he said, “and because of all that, it’s been a really tough decision to leave. I’ve made some wonderful friends here and I’ve worked with some great colleagues.”
But Bursmith said the opportunity to have a year to plan for a new school and hand-pick and work with all of the staff was just too good to pass up.
His new school will open in Acworth in Cobb County in 2008.