The messages hanging high above the students’ heads on the walls at Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs are concise and optimistic.
“Challenging the present,” one of them reads. “Cherishing the past” reads another. And a third one says, “Conquering the future.”
The future is still an open question at the over-achieving high school comprised of some 1,600 students. The past is well established: this year the school ranked 13th in the state in SAT scores. The school is frequently among the top 10 or 15 in the state of Georgia, Fulton County Schools Superintendent Robert Avossa recently told the Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber of Commerce.
The recent past and the present are full of questions after the resignation of the school’s long-time principal Eddie Echols in September, followed soon after by the athletic director, Jeff Holloway. In both cases, the school system found the men had mingled personal and school funds. Echols was found to have made both personal and school purchases with an American Express card. Holloway resigned amid questions about how he handled a payment for the school hosting the 2009 National Underclassmen Combine and money from a school concession stand. Neither school official was accused of theft.
Avossa said he is confident there will be no more high profile resignations at the school.
“I feel comfortable that our review is complete and that when we hand the keys to the new principal, he or she will be able to start in a good place,” Avossa said in a recent interview.
He said the system is conducting a national search for a new principal, with heavy input from parents and students at the school.
“We’ve gathered all the qualities they’re looking for,” Avossa said, “The No. 1 element in their educational experience is their teacher and the second is their principal. We’ve got to find a dynamic principal to meet the needs of a diverse student population.”
Avossa said the Riverwood community has told him they’re ready to move on. The school’s interim principal, Dennis Kostulakos, declined comment for this story.
“They’re looking forward to the next phase,” Avossa said. “Where do we go from here? They need a principal to validate the value of the school’s culture. There’s still room for improvement.”
Eric de Groot, president of the non-profit Riverwood Foundation, said the school community is “extremely optimistic” about the future.
“Whenever you hear the word ‘change,’ people generally speaking are not comfortable with change because they don’t know what will come next,” de Groot said. “Mr. Echols had been with the school for a long time .. Potentially we’ll have a man or a woman as good or even better.”
Jennifer Klein, a long-time parent at Riverwood, said the school community is strong as ever.
“I have every confidence in the world Riverwood will continue to get better and better,” Klein said. “I see that there’s a great amount of unity and dedication to the school that will only increase. It’s not going anywhere. … The general feeling is moving forward onward and upward.”