Education
Education

Is this the best high school principal in America?

By Maureen Downey
Aug 11, 2016

In October, the principal of Maynard H. Jackson High School in southeast Atlanta will find out if she is the country’s top high school principal.

Stephanie Johnson is one of three finalists for the national title; she already earned the Georgia honor.

Johnson leads a high school formerly considered one of the worst in the state. Hired away from Clayton County in 2012 by Atlanta Public Schools, Johnson found an intown neighborhood on the rise and a dedicated core of parents determined to raise the quality of their local high school.

She made academic rigor a focus, adding AP courses and persuading students to enter the challenging International Baccalaureate diploma program. If parents wanted a new club or after-school activity, she said fine. Jackson High now has 67 extracurriculars.

And she patrols the halls every day, checking in on students and teachers.

To read more about this turnaround effort and Johnson, go the AJC Get Schooled blog.

About the Author

Maureen Downey has written editorials and opinion pieces about local, state and federal education policy since the 1990s.

Follow Maureen Downey on facebookFollow Maureen Downey on twitter
More Stories

Keep Reading

Students put their cellphone in a box before heading to class at Sylvan Hills Middle School in Atlanta. The Georgia Department of Education wants lawmakers to expand a cellphone ban. (AJC file)

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

Georgia school cellphone ban should expand to high school, state ed leaders say

The Georgia Department of Education wants to ban cellphones in high schools too, not just K-8 classrooms.

Acting Dekalb superintendent gets salary bump, 1-year contract to ensure ‘stable leadership’

The contract, obtained via an open records request, doesn't mean Sauce will be the permanent superintendent of the DeKalb County School District.

Lovett School gets ‘historic’ $30 million gift from Rollins family

The gift honors the oldest child of Randall and Peggy Rollins, who died in 1970.

The Latest

Students put their cellphone in a box before heading to class at Sylvan Hills Middle School in Atlanta. The Georgia Department of Education wants lawmakers to expand a cellphone ban. (AJC file)

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

Georgia school cellphone ban should expand to high school, state ed leaders say

Acting Dekalb superintendent gets salary bump, 1-year contract to ensure ‘stable leadership’

Lovett School gets ‘historic’ $30 million gift from Rollins family

Featured

Tracy Woodard from InTown Cares (left) and Lauren Hopper from Mercy Care organization work with residents at the Copperton Street encampment in August 2024. (Miguel Martinez / AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez

‘Worst nightmares come true.’ Atlanta confronts shift in homelessness funding.

Trump’s overhaul threatens permanent housing for an estimated 600 Atlanta households and 170,000 people nationwide, advocates warn.

Microsoft’s newest AI ‘superfactory’ opens at sprawling Fayetteville campus

One of the largest data center campuses under construction in Georgia has its first operational tenant, and it’s one of the most recognizable names in technology.

Atlanta officials quietly rebrand city’s DEI office

The city of Atlanta office overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion is getting a rebrand amid assaults at the federal level on such initiatives.