Fulton's Tri-Cities High finds its man in Eldrick Horton

By Kristina Torres

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Elianah Avraham four years ago faced a decision: Should she enroll her son in south Fulton County's Tri-Cities High School, or move him to a different school?

"I was hearing they didn't have a principal, the kids were basically running the school, " said Avraham of Tri-Cities, which in 2006 had not met federal testing goals and was being led by an interim administrator.

The East Point campus included a magnet program for the performing arts, which interested Avraham's son, a dancer. But when she talked to other parents, "They told me, ‘You don't want your son there,' and I didn't need my baby to go where there was no structure."

Then came word of the school's new principal, who'd earned good reviews at Atlanta's Douglass High before he left to join Tri-Cities. That Avraham, students and staff now can't say enough good things about principal Eldrick Horton probably tells you this story has a happy ending. Test scores are rising. Faculty morale is up. And students credit him with doing something not enough adults do: trusting them, respecting them and holding them accountable.

"My son's a senior," said Avraham, who enrolled another son at Tri-Cities this year and has one more in eighth grade. "I love Dr. Horton. I've never been to a school where the principal has been so hands-on."

The 1,800-student school this year met federal testing goals; SAT scores have increased 72 points over the last two years. From the Horton-instituted "welcome desk" out front -- where no visitor waits more than five minutes to get an answer -- to newly organized teacher, parent and student resource rooms, the man spends 12 or more hours a day on campus and says he wouldn't trade it for the world.

"This is one of those professions where you've got to come in intrinsically: It's got to come from the heart," Horton said, before turning the credit around to others. "Students are always the first to step up to the table," he said. " I celebrate having a good faculty and staff. There is no one person who can move forward by themselves."

Horton made an immediate impression at the school. That first year, he greeted students on the first day of school and quickly learned their names. At his first meeting with parents, he gave out contact information including his personal cell phone number and, later, made a habit of returning their phone calls. Staff quickly learned he liked being out in the hallways, especially during class changes. "Throwing up the Heisman," -- a reference to one of Horton's gestures, which looked like the pose on the trophy --became a catch-phrase for his pace. "Not right now," he would say. "I'm focusing on student movement."

He told everyone -- parents, faculty, students -- that they shared in the responsibility for the school's climate and learning. It was his job to empower them. When he looked at students' scores, math and literacy became key touchpoints in every class. So did discipline, "not only of the physical but also stressing academics," said Tremetrice Wheeler, who teaches ninth- and 10th-grade social studies and is the department chairperson.

Every student is required to carry an academic portfolio, which holds assignments, reports and feedback. It also serves as a catch-all for their progress, since each is asked to set a goal for what they will do after high school, be it related to college, career or the military. Once that goal is set, students said, Horton is the first to ask what he can do to get them there. "He was never the type of principal to say, ‘Don't you think you need a back-up plan?'" said student Alexandria Payne, a member of Tri-Cities' senior class -- the first to go through the changes Horton brought.

A "math problem of the day" is now discussed in every class including social studies and English. When teachers noticed students skipping out on a tutorial program to go to sports practice, clubs or other after-school activities, Horton mandated that no activity start before 5:15 p.m. -- 15 minutes after the program ended. He also gave teachers use of a "hot pass" -- it's red -- which they may hand to misbehaving students or those who come unprepared to class.

"He's gotten rid of all the little things," said Margaret Tarver, who has worked at Tri-Cities since it opened in 1988 and is currently its graduation coach. "Now, teachers can actually teach."

MEET ELDRICK HORTON

Age: 48

Family: Parents George and Modena Horton; and siblings Gregory, Reginald, Michael, Thomas and Rena.

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Came to Atlanta: In the 11th grade, when Morehouse College accepted him for early admission under the condition that he maintain a "B" average. He did that and more, eventually earning a full scholarship.

Epiphany Moment: While pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology at Florida State University. "I was inundated with people having problems and I thought, ‘Can I catch it before it gets to this point?'" That led to an interest in school counseling and then to classroom teaching.

Motto: "Accountability is messy work but, in the end, it keeps you clean."