About | lionorchestras

Directors

Ms. Cleaton is in her twelfth year of teaching and is thrilled to be joining the Peachtree Ridge High School Orchestra program. She previously taught at Glenn C. Jones Middle School in Gwinnett County and Cooper Middle School in Cobb County. Ms. Cleaton earned her MMEd from Illinois State University and BMus (education and cello performance) from the University of Georgia. Ms. Cleaton serves as the GMEA District 13 Orchestra Division Chair, as an organizer for the GMEA All-State Orchestras, and as a member of the GMEA Orchestra Standing Committee. She also works as a guest clinician and adjudicator and has previously served on the staff of the Encore! Orchestra Camp. Professionally, Ms. Cleaton is a member of the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). She enjoys cooking, cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs and Atlanta Braves, and spoiling her pups Jackson and Julep.

Ms. Kim is in her Sixth year teaching and this is her 1st year at Peachtree Ridge HS. Before joining PRHS, she taught in Charleston, SC and Roswell, GA. Ms. Kim received her Bachelor of Music in Education (Strings) at Furman University where she studied piano and violin. She earned her Masters of Piano Performance/Pedagogy at Florida State University. She works as a counselor at ASTA Camp over the summer. Ms. Kim is a member of Georgia Music Educators Association, American String Teachers Association and National Association for Music Education. She enjoys finding new restaurants and coffee shops on the weekends.

Dr. Scruggs established the orchestra program at Peachtree Ridge when the school opened in 2003. She received her Bachelor of Music in Education and her Master of Music in Education from Columbus State University. She earned both an Ed.S. and a Ph.D. in music education from Georgia State University. Over her career, five of Dr. Scruggs’s groups have been invited to perform at the Georgia Music Educators Association annual In-Service Convention. Dr. Scruggs was voted the 1995 Pointe South Teacher of the Year, the 1999 Hull Middle School Teacher of the Year, and the 2016 Peachtree Ridge Teacher of the Year. After retiring from teaching, she returned to PRHS in 2019 to teach orchestra half time. Dr. Scruggs has served as state secretary for the Georgia chapter of the American String Teachers Association, as Vice President and President for
the Georgia Music Educators Association, and GMEA Past President’s Representative.