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Superintendent

photo of superintendent cheryl atkinsonDr. Cheryl L. H. Atkinson

Dr. Cheryl L.H. Atkinson
Superintendent, DeKalb County School District

Dr. Cheryl Atkinson was appointed Superintendent of the DeKalb County School District by the DeKalb County Board of Education on Sept. 15, 2011. At the time of her appointment, Dr. Atkinson was Superintendent of the Lorain City School District in Lorain, Ohio. She was previously Deputy Superintendent of the Kansas City Public Schools in Kansas City, Mo., and Associate Superintendent and Regional Superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in Charlotte, N.C.

Dr. Atkinson is a lifelong educator with more than 30 years of experience in improving student success. She began her career as an elementary school classroom teacher in Henderson, N.C., and taught at schools in South Carolina and Virginia before serving as an assistant principal and principal at schools in Virginia and Florida.

She took her first administrative position as Associate Superintendent in the Charleston County School District in Charleston, S.C., where she established innovative procedures for the evaluation of principals and implemented budgeting processes that directed resources to the most pressing needs of the School District. Dr. Atkinson was later Associate and Regional Superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, where she improved student success in math and reading, particularly in middle school student's proficiency in Algebra. As Deputy Superintendent of the Kansas City Public Schools, Dr. Atkinson was instrumental in expanding AP courses and providing opportunities for more students to take college entrance tests.

As the Superintendent of Schools in Lorain, Ohio, Dr. Atkinson implemented strategies that helped move the District from academic watch to continuous improvement. She put in place "Success for All," an academic reform model credited with raising Ohio Achievement Test scores in reading for all elementary and middle schools. She is also credited with effectively applying new technology to schools, including issuing E-books to students in place of textbooks and implementing an electronic grade reporting system that provided parents digital access to their children's grades and academic progress.

Dr. Atkinson holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education in Elementary Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va. She has served on the national system review team of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and has completed The Broad Superintendents Academy, a selective training program for superintendents charged with transforming high minority and low socio-economic school systems.

Dr. Atkinson resides in DeKalb County with her husband and sons.

For more information about Dr. Cheryl Atkinson or the DeKalb County School District, please visit opens in same window icon http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us [ http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us ].