Sue Gunderman

Headmaster

During her 34-year career as an educator, Susan Gunderman taught English and ESOL at the middle school, high school and college levels. For 18 years, she served as a high school assistant principal and principal of both a diverse urban high school and a large suburban comprehensive high school. In 1996, under her leadership in implementing a schoolwide initiative of Rigor and Relevance, Pebblebrook High School was named a Georgia State School of Excellence.

In 2000, Mrs. Gunderman opened Kennesaw Mountain High School (pictured below) in Kennesaw, Georgia. Under her leadership, Kennesaw Mountain gained national recognition for its exemplary academic accomplishments as well as its outstanding Service Learning and Character Education programs. Through multiple pathways, Kennesaw Mountain personalized instruction around individual student interests, learning styles, and aptitudes. Among those pathways are career academies in finance, informational technology, catering, and event planning, as well as the Academy for Advanced Studies in Math and Science as well as dual-enrollment opportunities with area colleges.

The school also made an extraordinary commitment to meeting the needs of special needs students and in 2002 proudly opened the Mountain Top Café, an onsite coffee shop operated solely by special needs students.

In recognition of exemplary achievement, Kennesaw Mountain has been commended by College Board as a Demonstration School for outstanding implementation of AP coursework and was named by Atlanta Magazine as one of the Top 10 Schools in metro Atlanta. Mrs. Gunderman was honored by the Chamber of Commerce as the City of Kennesaw Citizen of the Year in 2002. Additionally, she was recognized by the City of Kennesaw as the recipient of the Citizen Impact Award, and by the Kennesaw Business Association with the Outstanding Leadership Award.