WS Chronicle

Last week Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools announced that Dr. Keisha Gabriel had been named the new principal at Atkins High School.  

Dr. Gabriel joined the local school district in 2008 as an instructional coach. She served as principal intern at Parkland High School from 2011 to 2012. She joined the staff at Philo Hill Middle as assistant principal following the internship and stayed there until 2015. That same year Dr. Gabriel was named assistant principal at East Forsyth High School. From 2016 to 2020 she was principal at Kennedy High School.  

Every stop along her journey, Dr. Gabriel has made a difference in the lives of her students. Under her guidance, Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy met Education Visualization and Analytics Solution (EVAAS) academic growth in 2022, and during the 2023-2024 school year every tested area met growth expectation. During her tenure, the student attendance rate improved to 90% and the graduation rate rose to 88%, which is higher than the statewide average. When Dr. Gabriel took the position at W-S Prep, the pandemic was in full swing and her first goal was to make school feel normal again with high-quality learning experiences, traditional school spirit activities, and creating a family-like atmosphere.  

Dr. Gabriel helped establish a modified class schedule that allows students to participate in clubs on Friday mornings. The last hour of the day is dedicated time for social and emotional learning where staff members are assigned a small group of students to serve in a student advisory program. The partnerships with Big Brothers and Big Sisters and alumni from the original Atkins High School have also been extended.  

“When students came back for in-person learning our goal was to make sure we had a solid foundation in place that focused on building positive relationships. We worked hard to put systems in place to decrease the number of disciplinary incidents and improve school culture,” Dr. Gabriel continued. “We are incredibly proud of the fact that we’ve significantly decreased the number of behaviors that lead to students missing instruction … This positive school culture was focused around being a part of the Phoenix Family.”  

Leadership changes are not the only thing changing at W-S Prep. Earlier this month district leaders voted to embed the 6-12 virtual model in W-S Prep. The change came after the school board voted to do away with the Virtual Academy. District leaders said they chose W-S Prep to continue the district virtual learning option because it already has the 6-12 grade configuration, and it would increase enrollment numbers. The change is also expected to save the district more than $900,000.  

Since she will not officially start her new position at Atkins until her replacement is found, Dr. Gabriel is already preparing her staff for the changes. The addition could potentially add 200 students to the overall enrollment at W-S Prep.  

Dr. Gabriel said the addition of virtual learning means more teachers, which means more opportunities to collaborate on lesson plans. She mentioned that it will also give students more options.  

“The additional teachers will give them the opportunity to plan together with another like-subject teacher to develop engaging lessons. Students who attend classes virtually will be able to participate in extracurricular activities and will help contribute to the positive school culture,” she said. “There will be opportunities for the students, families, and staff members to learn more about the structure, ask questions, and contribute ideas to make the addition of virtual learning an efficient model.”  

According to the district, retired principal Charles McAninch will serve as interim principal at Atkins starting March 1.