PROFILE: Buck Greene, Alpharetta High School Principal

By Daniel Tyree McElrath / STAFF

Buck Greene has something you rarely find in the Atlanta area – a Georgia accent. Alpharetta High School’s principal hails from Valdosta. He came to Atlanta to attend Emory University where be earned a bachelor’s in Economics and Political Science. He also has a master’s and specialist’s degrees in Educational Leadership from the University of Georgia. Despite his relatively youthful appearance, he has been with the Fulton County School System for 16 years. This is all the more remarkable given that education is his second career. He was previously an airport station manager, first in Chicago and later in Atlanta.

He initially began teaching Social Studies at Westlake High School, and then at Riverwood High. He again taught Social Studies at Chattahoochee High School and also taught gifted students. Further, he was an administrative assistant there as well as curriculum assistant principal. Additionally, Green served as assistant principal at Northwestern Middle School and principal at Sandy Springs Middle School.

Buck Greene believes his school’s diversity contributes to producing well-rounded citizens. (Daniel Tyree McElrath / STAFF)

Alpharetta High School is only four years old but has already established a reputation for providing a well-rounded education. Part of that well-roundedness stems from the school’s diversity. The school, when created, pulled 60 percent of its student body from the Milton district and 40 percent from Chattahoochee. Drawing from the old Milton corridor, Alpharetta High’s diversity has diversity. It has a relatively high percentage of African American, Asian and Latino students and also has a strong world mix, with students having more than 50 different countries of birth. Three full-time ESOL teachers are on staff. Moreover, students come from all socio-economic levels. As Greene says, the school has “all the components of the real world.”

Educational diversity is yet another layer to the variety seen at Alpharetta. The high school is a special education center school, and fully one-quarter of the faculty and staff serves special education students. Additionally, the school has the community-based instruction program, serving students who needs a very functional curriculum and life skills. The Metropolitan Regional Educational Services Agency (MRESA) program is also located at the school and serves students with psychological disorders.

The school is enormously proud of its diversity, and all of the students are fully integrated into the overall school community, with each group seeing others as their peers. The sense of community is very strong, and Greene believes that it is an essential component of the educational process.

While the goal is well-rounded citizens, the mission is that “Alpharetta High School will be nationally competitive in academics, the arts, athletics and service to the community.”

The school began with 1,400 students the first year, then 1,780 the second and 2,000 the third. Now the school has 2,200 students supported by 240 faculty and staff.

It is academically rigorous, with 21 AP courses offered this year. Alpharetta High has already attained silver status for the Governor’s Award for meeting and exceeding scores on the Georgia Graduation Test. Moreover, it was named one of the best high schools in Atlanta by Atlanta Magazine and ranked in the top 500 nationally by Newsweek magazine.

Popular classes include three career tech offerings. Professional Foods is a culinary arts program. Video Production has a fully equipped studio outfitted with all of the latest high-tech, professional equipment, while Pre-Engineering has a CAD machine that allows students to create three-dimensional designs and then replicate them to create tangible products.

Last year’s graduating class of 340 students matriculated at such schools as MIT, Cornell, Stanford and the service academies, as well as UGA. This year’s seniors will number more than 500 students.

Alpharetta’s athletics have gotten off to a good start, already having fielded region champions and region runners up in multiple sports. Fourteen varsity sports are offered with many teams within each sport.

Greene is astonished by the tremendous school spirit Alpharetta has already generated. He says it is the result of effort, but it is still amazing and rewarding to see.

For the coming year, the school is promoting four initiatives: student integrity, student leadership skills, unity, and the continued roll-out of Georgia performance standards.

Alpharetta High School reflects the new America, with a diverse collection of people working together to achieve the very old but elusive ideals of cooperation and excellence.