COMPELLING REASONS TO CHOOSE NORTH ATLANTA
We are fortunate to live in an area that offers many different school choices for high school students.Why, then, do so many families find North Atlanta appealing? While the reasons are as diverse as our student body, there are many common refrains.
A Strong Community
Most often, you will hear the words "warm" and "welcoming" used to describe our community. If you and your child are new to North Atlanta, then you will quickly learn that it is easy to assimilate. Inclusiveness is simply an intrinsic part of our school community. Size is another factor in our strong community. We are small enough for everyone to know one another, but large enough to offer the full gamut of extra-curricular and sports activities that are so important to the high school experience. Many families are attracted by the prospect of maintaining continuity throughout their children's K-12 experience. The North Atlanta public school cluster also is unique in that it is one of only 18 such districts in North America to offer the highly regarded International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme from first through twelfth grade.
Academic Excellence
An IB curriculum and academic excellence go hand-in-hand. The IB Diploma program is widely considered to be the most rigorous college preparatory curriculum in the world. All North Atlanta freshman and sophomores are enrolled in the IB Middle Years Programme. At the end of tenth grade, students have the option of pursuing the IB Diploma or taking an alternative track of college preparatory classes. North Atlanta is home to the oldest IB Diploma Programme in the Southeast and the school's graduating classes offer proof of the advantages that IB delivers in the college acceptance process:
- 99% of NAHS graduates are college bound.
- The graduating classes of 2009, 2010 and 2011 combined have garnered more than $50 million in scholarships.
- Recent NAHS graduates have been accepted at all Ivy League schools and scores of other prestigious colleges and universities across the country.
Click here to read a partial list of the Class of 2011 college acceptances
In contrast to many high schools where the IB Diploma path is reserved for only the most elite students, North Atlanta extends the IB Diploma opportunity to every student, regardless of their prior academic performance. Click here to learn more about the IB program at North Atlanta.
Broad Opportunities
Given our IB roots, it is not surprising that North Atlanta strives to produce well-rounded graduates. At North Atlanta, every student is encouraged to pursue any opportunity he or she desires - on the playing field, after school in clubs and, indeed, around the world in a variety of study programs. Simply put, we prefer to say "yes" rather than "no."
North Atlanta's athletic program has been growing exponentially in recent years. Student participation has more than tripled and is matched by new competitive success on the playing field and strong sports booster club support. Our Warriors field 35 junior varsity and varsity teams in Region 5 AAA competition. Atlanta Public Schools also has invested heavily in renovating all athletic facilities, including the addition of a state-of-the-art artificial turf playing field in 2010.
In addition to our strong IB heritage, North Atlanta enjoys a rich artistic legacy having served for 37 years as a magnet school for the performing arts. Today, the Center for the Arts offers two dozen visual and performing arts programs including orchestra, dance, chorus, drama, visual arts and our award-winning jazz, marching, and symphonic bands.
Opportunities for student growth also abound through a wide variety of extracurricular activities. There are more than 25 standing clubs and activities on campus - Model UN, Beta Club, Robotics Club and Earth Club to name a few. In fact, students who cannot find a club to suit their particular interest often find themselves becoming the founding member of their own new club. In addition, NAHS students must fulfill 75 hours of community service for graduation and those pursuing the IB Diploma must complete another 150 service-related hours.
As an IB World School, we also are a community of globe trotting scholars. Numerous study abroad programs are offered annually. If you are visiting Beijing in the summer, then there is a good chance that you will see a Warrior t-shirt!
Student Character
Finally, perhaps more than anything else, the high school years are about preparation for real life - the years when the true character of our children emerges. Reading between the lines, we like what the speech of 2010 valedictorian, Mandy Eidson, had to say about the character of North Atlanta kids:
"During the past four years, we have been each others friends, comrades, and guides throughout this high school journey and have come to love our quirks, our diversity, our similarities and differences...We love our spirit. We are the Warriors, and we have waged war. We have waged war in the classrooms, where we fought for our education and struggled with difficult concepts. We have waged war in the playing courts and sports fields, where we proved that we are a force to be reckoned with. We have waged war in the community, through our volunteering and advocacy efforts for issues that matter. Sometimes, we even waged war with each other, with our teachers, and with the administration. Finally, we waged war with ourselves. We challenged ourselves to be better - to dream bigger and work harder.
Given what we graduates have achieved at this school, I am confident that each and every one of us can and will pursue our greatest hopes. We will move on to the next stage of our lives with an attitude of reform and progress, which are two values that we have witnessed firsthand during our high school experience. North Atlanta High is a school that welcomes change, every year, facing obstacles head-on while adapting to new circumstances. We graduates have survived changes in the administration, the dress code, and the student body, and have emerged better for the wear because the change has given us the opportunity to contribute to this school as much as it has influenced us."
Selfless and Open-Minded. Resilient and Relentless. Prepared and Empowered.
At North Atlanta, this is the type of young adult that we hope to send out to embrace a wider world that is ever more connected and that offers ever more opportunity. We welcome you to join us.
