On Monday, Johns Creek High School held a ceremony to officially dedicate its building. During the ceremony, students, faculty, and parents described their experience being part of a high school’s inaugural class. In addition, special guests were invited to speak, and a plaque commemorating the building’s construction was unveiled.

Says Buck Greene, principal, “The building is an amazing state-of-the-art resource for our students and faculty. Now, we are making the building into a school!” In their first year of operation, Greene welcomed over 1200 students and takes pride in the successes of his new school. This was a year of firsts for the Gladiators:  first athletic banner, first regional and state titles, first academic club wins, first fundraisers, first prom and in 2 weeks, first graduation.

Johns Creek High School is located at 5575 State Bridge Road in Johns Creek.

JEROME HUFF NAMED NEW PRINCIPAL AT ELKINS POINTE MIDDLE SCHOOL

Jerome Huff will move to Elkins Pointe Middle School next year to fill the leadership position being vacated by retiring principal Vivian Bankston.

Currently the principal at Roswell North Elementary School, Huff began his career in Savannah as a teacher and assistant principal. He served as an assistant principal at Roswell High School for four years before coming to Roswell North in 1999 as an assistant principal.

Under Huff’s direction, Roswell North has received numerous state and national honors, including the Platinum Award for greatest test gains from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and a “Closing the Achievement Gap” recognition from the Standard and Poor’s Corp. In 2009, he was a front-runner for the Georgia PTA’s Principal of the Year award and helped Roswell North start a foundation, which raised $70,000 in its first year.

Huff graduated from Georgia Southern University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in school administration and supervision.

DRU TOMLIN NAMED NEW PRINCIPAL AT HAYNES BRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL

Dru Tomlin, assistant principal at Webb Bridge Middle School, will some become the new leader of Haynes Bridge Middle School. He succeeds retiring principal Deborah Reeves.

Tomlin joined Fulton County Schools in 1998 after working as a high school teacher in Virginia. He taught at Ridgeview Middle School and River Trail Middle School, where he later became an assistant administrator. He has been an assistant principal at Webb Bridge Middle School since 2004.

Named Teacher of the Year at both Ridgeview Middle and River Trail Middle, Tomlin also was chosen as the school system’s overall Teacher of the Year in 2003. In 2009, he was named Middle School Assistant Principal of the Year by the Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals and was an inaugural member of the school system’s Promising Principals Program, a yearlong leadership program for aspiring principals.

Tomlin holds degrees from James Madison University (B.A. English) and Georgia State University (M.Ed., Educational Leadership), where he is pursuing a doctoral degree in language and literacy.

CLIFFORD JONES NAMED NEW PRINCIPAL AT MILTON HIGH SCHOOL

Clifford Jones will become Milton High School’s principal next school year, stepping into the role held by retiring principal Ronald Tesch.

After working in the banking industry for several years, Jones began a teaching career in 2001 at Milton High School, and later, at River Trail Middle School. He returned to Milton in 2003 as a teacher and in 2005, he was named Teacher of the Year. Three years later, he became an assistant principal.

Jones’ current administrative role focuses on curriculum and instruction. He performs classroom evaluations, promotes leadership and team building, assists in budget development and oversees standardized testing protocols. He also uses data to determine whether students are meeting the state curriculum standards. In 2009, he was selected for the school system’s first Promising Principals Program.

Jones studied in Scotland during his college years, earning the equivalent of both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in modern history from the University of St. Andrews.  Back in the United States, he attended Georgia State University and earned a master’s of education in secondary social studies as well as certification in educational leadership.

State Science and Engineering Fair Winners Announced

Twenty-one Fulton County students recently won first place awards, as well as other special honors from sponsoring organizations at the 62nd annual Georgia Science and Engineering Fair, held March 31 - April 3 at the University of Georgia.

The middle and high school competition drew more than 500 of the best science projects in the state. Students first participated at the Fulton County Schools regional fair, with first place winners and some second place winners advancing to state competition.

A total of six Grand Prize awards (three in each age division) were given at the fair, and two of them went to Fulton County students -- Raja Selvakumar from Milton High School and the team of Colin Walsh and Darren Diaz from Fulton Science Academy. In addition, Selvakumar will continue in competition to the International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, Calif, during May 9-14. The Georgia fair sends three projects annually to the international competition.

For the 2010 state competition, first place and special honors were awarded to: Fulton Science Academy Students Darren Diaz and Collin Walsh with Science Coach Zafer Demir