As Chamblee begins a new and in-person school year, it welcomes a new face to the administrative team. Dr. Stewart is a new assistant principal at Chamblee. Stewart hails from Fort Myers, Florida, and is brand new to DeKalb County, Atlanta, and Georgia overall. 

Stewart serves as the 10th grade and attendance assistant principal.

“I am a 10th-grade administrator so anything to do with discipline, I handle. Anything 10th grade. I handle the attendance. I handle all the coverage for when teachers aren’t here. The warm body count you hear? I handle all that.”

She addresses more of the long-term attendance issues. 

“There’s several different aspects of it,” said Stewart. “[There’s] the day to day, ‘My kid’s not going to be here.’ I actually have a secretary that helps on the day-to-day. I handle [when kids reach] the certain threshold of days missed. When you’re not coming to school, how do we get you back into school? How do we get you here, not missing any more days?”

 Her duties as an administrator differ from those of a classroom teacher.

“There’s a lot more on the logistics day-to-day side of things to make things work and run,” said Stewart. “It’s more than just dealing with kids. There’s a lot more tasks that you have to complete to keep things running.”

Additionally, Stewart’s logistical mind and networking skills support her immensely in her education career.

“It is my 22nd year in education and fifth year as a high school administrator,” said Stewart. “[I would describe myself as] consistent, I like to build relationships, and I’m very data focused.” 

However, Stewart felt as if she needed something different, which is what brought her to Chamblee.

“I have lived in Fort Myers my whole life, was born and raised [there], never been anywhere else,” said Stewart. “I have one grown son, so [I’m an] empty nester. I’ve always wanted to move up to Atlanta; one of my best friends lives here and I liked the area […] I’ve kind of found a new joy in getting out and going to different hikes in the mountains because that’s totally different.”

Working as an administrator was not always Stewart’s first choice; her career ideas have changed over the years.

“The first thing I can remember is wanting to be a physical therapist,” said Stewart. “Then I drifted a bit to pharmacology in college, and finally, I transitioned over to law, Legal Studies.”

She started more wary of law but changed her mind later on. 

“A lot of people in my family were attorneys,” said Stewart. “And so the question everybody asks is, ‘Are you gonna be an attorney?’ And you say no, right? But I really did enjoy the legal side of things and the logistics behind things. My bachelor’s is actually in law, Legal Studies.”

The idea to shift from her law background came about more by happenstance. 

“I originally started off with my school district in Florida,” said Stewart. “I was young, and I started off as a bus driver. [In the] breaks during the day, I went to college and got my degree. I had a director at the time that convinced me to give teaching a shot. So I took my teaching test and started teaching in 2007. And I was in the classroom for about eight years. Then I was a reading coach for a couple years. And then I got into administration five years ago.”

Entering her fourth week at Chamblee, Stewart seems to have found her stride in administration.

“I love being an administrator,” said Stewart. “I love being an agent of change. I like being able to help kids through all their different things that happen in high school.”

Looking forward, she hopes to become more comfortable with the county and the school.

“I am new to the state and the district, so I have to kind of learn the Georgia, DeKalb, and Chamblee way,” said Stewart. “First, like I said, I do really enjoy data. So really looking at these scores, how can we move forward and become an even stronger school? [Data] tells you a lot, what to focus on and what to do. So hopefully, as I learn more about the data, I can start playing a role in helping the school, for sure.”

For now, Stewart is just eager to join the Chamblee team and start making a difference.

“I’m just glad to be here,” said Stewart. “I’m looking forward to [learning] and getting to know the students.”