Dear Norcross High School Community and Visitors,

I would like to begin my welcome to you with my favorite introduction. "My name is Mary Anne Charron, and I am the very proud principal of Norcross High School." As a principal I believe that every child can and will learn at the highest level within our school. While many schools have areas of pride, NHS has outstanding programs throughout. Though this space is limited, I would like to review some of the successes from this 2004-2005 year that confirm why NHS continues to be a School of Excellence.

• NHS has four students who were named National Merit Scholarship Finalists in 2004-2005.
• NHS has twenty current seniors who have perfect scores on the SAT or PSAT exams.
• NHS improved its SAT scores to an average of 1057 with 95% of the students taking this exam. This far exceeds the state and national averages not only in score but, most significantly, for the number of students taking this college entrance exam.
• NHS is the only high school in Gwinnett County to offer the highly acclaimed International Baccalaureate program. There are over 250 students enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program for and already that number has grown to 290 students for 2005-2006.
• NHS Athletic Director, Mike Emery, was selected as the State of Georgia Athletic Director of the Year.
• NHS Student Council Advisor, Kirsten Mixter, was selected as the State Advisor of the Year.
• NHS Student Council is the State Student Council for 2005 - 2006. Norcross High students, Lindsay Eiermann and Michael Dermer, are the State Student Council presidents.
• Norcross High One-Act play was selected third in the entire state of Georgia.
• NHS Band won numerous competitions throughout the school year, and received perfect scores from every judge at the Georgia Music Educators Association adjudication with a flawless performance.
• NHS Orchestra achieved acclaimed "Superior" status in competitions and activities throughout the year.
• NHS held its second annual "Taste of Norcross High" event that brought over 3500 guests to our school and netted our booster clubs $80,000 to assist our students in the programs.
• NHS Boys Varsity Basketball Team for the second year in a row had an undefeated regular season.
• NHS Boys Varsity Basketball Team won the 7 AAAAA Region Championship.
• NHS Boys Varsity Basketball Team went to the State Finals and was the State Runner-up.
• NHS Boys Varsity Soccer Team won the 7 AAAAA Region Championship
• NHS Boys Baseball Team won runner-up for the 7 AAAAA Region.
• NHS Boys Track Team won runner-up for the 7 AAAAA Region.
• NHS raised $61,000 for the Relay for Life, the most of any school in the Gwinnett County Public School System.

The incredible Norcross High community of students, parents, teachers, and community members insures that Norcross High will continue to be a school where accomplishments like those above will continue to flourish. Our motto at Norcross High is "Achieving Excellence on the Wings of Diversity." We thank you for your interest in Norcross High School, and we invite any guests an opportunity to visit and marvel at our exemplary academic and extra-curricular programs. Parents, my door, my phone, my email are always open to communicate with you about your desires and wishes for your child's education. I look forward to working with you in the coming months and years, and together with you, will continue the mission of making Norcross High School one of the best schools in our state and country.

Sincerely,

Mary Anne Charron