Edwards Mill Rd #E
Raleigh, NC 27616

As a parent of two students at Athens, we have had a great experience. Administrators and staff truly care about the well-being of students and encourage all students to get involved & pursue their passions. We feel that our students will be well prepared for college and have benefitted from a diverse student body.

Most of the teachers and school counselors are great. Unfortunately, the members of the administration possess poor leadership and communication skills . The leadership style of the Principal could most easily be described as someone who is more focused on "clearing the inbox" than providing a collaborative environment for children, parents and staff. Our personal observation from the actions exhibited by the Principal were that of someone who's methodology was to use her current position as a stepping stone on a path to achieve a long term goal to be promoted to the central office as an Assistant Superintendent or similar role. It was clear her focus was not on educating but instead rising through the ranks as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the school administration as a whole seems to be a poorly matched team. We only had multiple personal dealings with one of the Assistant Principals however we quickly observed that both that Assistant Principal and the Principal had aversions to the truth in several instances. The administration pays a large amount of lip-service to the importance of being a "partner" with parents however we only observed contradictory behavior from them. Unfortunately for both the students and their families the current administrative team suffers from a lack of adequate leadership, the inability to accept responsibilities for mistakes made and poor judgement in decision making. The school itself has great facilities, a dedicated group of teachers who are clearly devoted to the success of their students and tremendous potential to become a credit to the Wake County system. However, a restructuring of leadership is the only way for this to successfully occur.

I can’t speak to the rest of the school but beware if your child is on special education. The administration treats the teachers like dogs. At the end of 23-24, the entire CCR and self-contained teams left and so far this year as of mid-October 2024, 4 of the 6 CCR and self-contained teachers have quit, so students will not be receiving the support they are legally required to receive. The admin will tell you it was the teachers, but that is not true. A new principal was just announced, so I hope she is able to turn it around, but be aware and ask questions if your child is in sped.