Being a school principal isn’t a job that just anyone can pull off. It requires leadership, flexibility, organization, fairness, and being a good listener. Being a high school principal is arguably even harder, requiring to be equipped with the ability to be able to deal with hormonally-charged teenagers every weekday. Fortunately, Principal Curtis Douglass exceeds all of those criterion.

The overall part of his job is to run an effective high school, serving as the instruction leader of NAHS, and ensuring that kids are safe. There are a lot of responsibilities that are required to get that done, from checking emails to reviewing the daily agenda, to attending different meetings throughout the school day. It is the principal’s responsibility to deal with anything from facilities to athletics and to make that all of the school operations are running smoothly.

For Douglass, the culmination of everything that he does is for his students succeed. “That’s like one of the greatest achievements really, just seeing kids succeed.” he said. “ As well as things in between the four years- seeing them being successful in classes, their academic and athletics achievements, and just watching them grow.”

Douglass was born in Manhattan, New York City, and then moved to the city’s Bronx borough. The borough had its own police force, community center, clusters of schools, and other additions that made it a quaint place to grow up in. He attended Morehouse College, the prestigious all-male historically black college in Atlanta. He got his masters in Special Education at the University of Georgia. He worked early in his career as a special education teacher in the Gwinnett County Schools District. He made the jump to APS, coming to North Atlanta during the 2012-13 school year. He worked as an assistant principal in North Atlanta until four years ago, where he became the school’s principal.

Douglass carries his academic achievement and experiences with him to help his students succeed in life. “The biggest part of success is academics.” he said. “You have to be able to do your part but also the people around you can help influence you.” From the small things he does to the big ones, Douglass definitely carries the name of North Atlanta High School with pride and has made changes that show the sign of a great leader.