Update from Bill Neely, AHS principal 

Atascadero High School Principal Bill Neely.

By Bill Neely
Atascadero High School Principal

– Becoming the principal of Atascadero High School is thrilling and overwhelming. I feel a great sense of duty and I am very humbled by the task before me. It definitely seems that I have come full circle. Let me explain.

Although I was born in California, I was a transplanted to Atascadero from Columbus, Ohio during the summer of 1974. I was the senior class president for the class of ‘77. I went on to Cal Poly to study ornamental horticulture and I concentrated on landscape design and construction. After graduating from Cal Poly, I attained my C-27 license (landscape contractor) and worked in the bay area for a time, only to return to the central coast to continue my trade.

I married my high school sweetheart and started growing roots here. I had always wanted to be a high school biology teacher and after the death of my father and the birth of our first son, I attained my second bachelors in biology from Cal Poly and earned my teaching credential.

After teaching and coaching at AHS for 22 years, and after the graduation of our second son in 2014, I felt I was ready to tackle a bigger challenge. The opportunity presented itself, and a dear friend of mine once told me the best time to shoot a bear is when you see it…so I did.

Now the work begins. I want to spend time my first year as principal looking, listening and learning. I don’t want to fix anything that isn’t broken. This is a wonderful community, and the faculty and staff at the high school are exemplary. The students deserve our finest effort and I will do all I can to provide that for them.

About the author: News Staff

News staff of the A-Town Daily News wrote and edited this article from local contributors and press releases. Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Connect with him on Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog. He can be reached at [email protected].