A New Face

Bedansh Pandey, Staff Writer

Though Northview is known across the state of Georgia for its students’ prestige in academics and extracurriculars, the people who work behind-the-scenes, enabling the students to achieve their best, can often be overlooked for their hard work and contribution. This includes not only the teachers and staff but also the administrators.  

Recently, there was a new addition to the administrative team: LeMetra Dismuke, who has taken on the role of assistant principal. Coming from the city of Alpharetta, GA, Dismuke was a former teacher at Manning Oaks Elementary School. There, she worked directly with both students and teachers in the “response to intervention program”. 

“We made sure that we were supporting students with their academics, giving them strategies to help with their reading and math, as well as with behavioral strategies if they needed those,” Dismuke said. “I absolutely loved my time there, and I’m excited to be here at Northview now.” 

Prior to coming to Northview, though, Dismuke had to go through a lengthy interview and application process. A panel comprised of two teachers, two parents, a current assistant principal, the principal, and the area executive director evaluated several candidates, after which the principal put forth a recommendation of one of the candidates. Subsequently, the candidate met with the chief academic officer, and finally the superintendent. That candidate was Dismuke, and during the initial panel phase, Principal Brian Downey described her as someone that stood out because of her genuine love and enthusiasm for her duties. 

“She had a smile, she told a story right off the bat that showed her passion and caring about kids,” Downey said. “You want your assistant principals to be go-getters, you don’t want to have to pry for them to be able to do stuff.”

Her first day at Northview was March 2, and ever since then, she’s had to work through thick and thin along with the administrators to stay in the loop amidst the coronavirus and ensure that students have a healthy and safe learning space. But despite the unusual circumstances, Dismuke has made efforts to get to know the students of Northview. 

“As far as I’ve seen, the students here are very driven. They know exactly––for the most part––where they want to go, what they want to do. They work hard to get there,” Dismuke said. “They're very wide open and willing to collaborate with their counselors as well as with the administration in helping to meet their goals.”

With regard to her new workplace environment, Dismuke believes that her co-workers share the same goals as her and she sees her future at Northview as a progressive one.  

“I felt nothing but love since I got here. I mean I received such a very warm welcome when I started,” Dismuke said.  “For any question that I had, someone has had the answer or knew which way to direct me and that’s what I like: it's all hands on deck type of environment.”

Though it is uncertain as to when students and staff will return to Northview High School, one thing is for certain: when they do return, Dismuke will be there, ready to help students and staff in any way she can.