Coweta
County
Associate
Superintendent
John
Dunn is
retiring
from his
position
at the
end of
the
year.
Dunn has
held the
position
since
being
appointed
by
Superintendent
Blake
Bass in
2004.
Dunn is
married
to
Newnan
High
School
A.P.
Calculus
Teacher
Vivian
Dunn,
who was
recently
chosen
as one
of two
Newnan
High
STAR
teachers
this
year. “I
met
Vivian
at West
Georgia
College.
Her
father
was a
biology
professor
there,”
and John
Dunn was
a
biology
student,
he said.
Mrs.
Dunn is
retiring
at the
end of
the
school
year as
well.
The
Dunns
chose
Coweta
Schools
because
they
knew the
school
system
well and
it had a
good
reputation.
Vivian
chose
Coweta
Schools
over a
job
offer at
Oak
Mountain
Academy.
“We had
one car
and a
motorcycle
to get
us
around,
and we
worked
it out
so that
I could
student
teach in
Coweta
once she
began
teaching
here.” A
year
later he
graduated
from
college
and a
biology
teaching
position
opened
up.
Dunn
began
his
teaching
career
in
Coweta
County
Schools
in 1976
at
Central
High
School,
where he
served
as a
science
teacher
for 10
years.
His
first
principal
was
Richard
Brooks.
“I
really
enjoyed
it. I
thought
it was a
good
school
system
with a
very
good
outlook
and a
good,
professional
group of
people
here,”
he said.
“I
enjoyed
going to
work
every
day.”
As a
biology
teacher,
he most
enjoyed
the lab
work.
“Dissecting,
microscopes
– the
kids
always
enjoyed
that.”
His
favorite
subject
was
astronomy.
The
school
system –
and
schools
– were
smaller
then
(about
7,000
students,
as
opposed
to
nearly
22,000
today).
At
Central
High,
Dunn
recalls
that
teachers
envied
teachers
in
mobile
trailers,
because
they
were the
only
air-conditioned
classes
on
campus.
Dunn
moved to
Newnan
High
School
as a
teacher
in 1986,
working
with
Principal
Alan
Wood. He
became
an
Assistant
Principal
one year
later at
O.P.
Evans
with
Principal
Herman
Fletcher,
and then
principal
of
Atkinson
Elementary
School.
Dunn
moved to
the
Central
Office
in 1994
to
coordinate
the
county’s
middle
schools,
and then
became
Principal
of White
Oak
Elementary
School
in 1995.
In 1999
he
became
the
Director
of
Secondary
Curriculum,
a
position
he held
until
Blake
Bass
became
Superintendent
in 2004
and
asked
him to
work
with him
as his
Associate
Superintendent.
The two
had
immediate
challenges
in the
school
system,
including
a very
tight
school
system
budget.
Dunn not
only
took on
the
Associate
Superintendent’s
duties,
but the
traditional
duties
of the
system’s
Assistant
Superintendent
over
curriculum
and
other
jobs.
The
school
system
enjoys a
better
financial
outlook
today.
Its
challenges
are also
different
than the
ones the
school
system
faced
when
Dunn
began
teaching
in 1976.
“But we
have
some of
the same
strengths,”
said
Dunn. “I
still
think we
have an
excellent
group of
people,
from
teachers
to
maintenance
to our
administrators.
We’re
getting
larger,
but we
have an
excellent
reputation
as a
school
system,
so we
attract
good
people.”
“Our
school
system
puts
students
first,
and we
have
good
community
support
and good
parent
support,”
which
translates
into
community
backing
of the
sales
tax to
meet the
demands
of
growth,
and high
academic
achievement
in
schools,
said
Dunn.
Dunn
forsees
growth
as a
continuing
challenge
for the
system.
“I think
the
biggest
struggle
with the
growth
is not
just
providing
an
excellent
educational
environment
for
students
and good
facilities,
but
maintaining
a good
relationship
with the
community.”
“One of
our
strengths
has been
in
keeping
that
small
school
system
feel and
being
accessible
to
parents
and
citizens
even
while
we’ve
expanded,”
he said.
But Dunn
said the
school
system
is still
doing
that. He
remembered
that
refugees
from
Hurricane
Katrina
were
amazed
that he
and
Superintendent
Bass
went
personally
to the
Red
Cross
shelter
to
enroll
students
personally,
and he
sees
principals
across
the
county
maintain
the same
accessibility
to
parents
and
students.
Coweta
schools
will
need to
stress
that
accessibility
as they
grow,
“to make
sure
that
we’re
doing
the best
we can
for
every
student,”
he said.
Improvements
to
curriculum
training
and data
collection
and use
are
helping
teachers
to make
sure
that
students
can be
developed
to their
full
potential.
Drawing
on his
grounding
in
science,
Dunn
also
believes
that the
school
system
will
need to
stress
math,
science
and
technology
to help
students
succeed.
“Generally,
we seem
to have
a very
good
handle
on
reading
and
English.
Our
students
are
literate;
we need
to make
sure
they are
all
numerate,
as
well.”
“It’s a
broad
front of
challenges,
but the
system
is up to
it,”
said
Dunn.
Looking
back
over his
career,
Dunn
said he
has a
great
deal to
be happy
with.
Mostly,
though,
“I think
it’s
great to
be
around
long
enough
to see
folks
you used
to teach
being
successful
in life,
in the
community,
in
professions,”
he said.
“It’s
good to
know
they all
grew
up.”
Coweta
County
School
System
Associate
Superintendent
John
Dunn,
right,
has
announced
his
retirement
at the
end of
the
2006-07
school
year,
after 31
years in
education.
Superintendent
Blake
Bass
announced
Wednesday
that
Jerry
Davis,
left,
will
become
the
school
system’s
new
Associate
Superintendent
in July.
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