At a staff meeting in the afternoon of November 28, 2018, Chamblee Charter High School principal Rebecca Braaten announced that she intends to transfer from Chamblee effective December 17, 2018. Her last day at Chamblee will be Friday, December 14. She will not be moving to become principal of another school; instead, she will continue to work for DeKalb County School District as an administrator on special assignment.

The interim principals taking her place will be Terese Allen and Robert Williams, both of whom worked as executive coaches this year to better support Braaten. The two will serve as principals until a permanent replacement is found. No timeline has been announced for the new hiring.

The move was of Braaten’s own accord, but comes after months of sustained criticism on the part of many parents and teachers.

Braaten came to Chamblee as principal at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year.

During her year and a half tenure, changes at CCHS have included a more relaxed phone and dress code policy, and the announcement of the freshman academy. Other programs included a mandatory ID lanyard policy for all students, a stricter morning check-in policy, and an emphasis on teaching objectives through the lens of “WILF” and “SWBAT.”

Braaten was highly criticized during a state of school address which took place over the summer, following the release of staff surveys that showed widespread dissatisfaction toward the school’s leadership.

Most recently, Braaten was scrutinized for a string of governing board meetings (see: here and here), at which many parents believed her to be unprepared.