East Atlanta High School – Historical Note
In September, 1958 East Atlanta High School was accredited and opened its doors to high school students. Its first principal was Mr. G. L. Keith, who after moving on donated all of the early yearbooks to the Atlanta Public School Archives. Other notable school principals were:

• Mr. Bruce Blake
• Mr. Eugene Wimby
• Mr. Wilbur Leaphart
• Mr. Turner Sibley

One of the most memorable and tenured faculty members was Ms. Eloise Penn who taught English from 1961 until she retired in 1981.

The school’s mascot was the Wildcat; and the school colors were orange and blue. The Alma Mater was written by Mr. Burns, the first school chorus director. The yearbook in its early years was known as “The Wildcat’s Tale”, and once even called “The Phoenix” before finally being names, in the late 1960′s, to “The Predator”. The school newpaper was called the “East Echo”.

In it’s thirty-year history more than 2000 student graduated from East Atlanta High School. Truly, days of learning toil and pleasure shaped extraordinary lives. Among the notable alumni are city elected politicians, ministers, teachers, semi pro baseball players, a professional basketball player, sales and marketing executives, attorneys, engineers, actors/actresses, members of the armed forces, firefighters, mechanics, florists, authors, real estate agents, administrative and executive assistants, homemakers, mothers and fathers to name a few.

In 1988 after graduating its last class, the high school became a middle school and was re-named to Thurgood Marshall Middle School before it eventually closed.