Dr. Richard Carnes, Principal
Born and raised in Cherokee County, Dr. Richard (Richie) Carnes has been in the education field for 30 years. He, his wife (Nicole), and sons (Ashton and Braxton) live in the Creekview Zone. Nicole is a 5th grade special education teacher at Kelly Mill Elementary in Forsyth County. Ashton will begin his sophomore campaign at the University of Georgia this year, majoring in pre-med; and Braxton is a freshman at Creekview High School, and he enjoys playing football and baseball.
Dr. Carnes was a 1990 graduate of Cherokee High School. He attended Georgia Southern University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Education (1994). Dr. Carnes earned a master’s degree in foundations of education from Troy State University (2003), and he earned a master’s degree in education leadership from Georgia College and State University (2008). In 2011, he received his Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.
Dr. Carnes taught English at Cherokee High School from 1994-2000. During that stint, he held extracurricular duties such as class sponsor, assistant basketball coach, assistant football coach, assistant baseball coach, and head golf coach. In the fall of 2000, he had the opportunity to move to Martinez, GA to teach and coach at Lakeside High School. During his three years at Lakeside, he taught English, was the head basketball coach (3 years), head softball coach (1 year), and assistant football coach (2 years).
Ashton was born in 2004. Richie, Nicole, and Ashton moved back home to Canton in June of 2004. He became the work-based learning teacher and Career-Tech Department Head at Cherokee High School and continued to be an assistant football coach for four years. In the spring of 2008, he worked as an assistant principal of CCSD’s Polaris Evening School. Then, in the fall of 2008, he became an assistant principal at Carmel Elementary. Braxton was born in 2009 while he was serving as an assistant principal at Carmel Elementary. In the fall of 2011, as an assistant principal, he helped open Indian Knoll Elementary. He stayed at Indian knoll for four years and then became an assistant principal at Mill Creek Middle School through the 2018-2019 school year. He is extremely excited to continue to invest in his own community as the principal of Creekland Middle School.
Mr. Nate Cline, Assistant Principal - 6th Grade
Originally from Hickory, North Carolina, Mr. Cline attended North Carolina State University and Campbell University, earning a Bachelor’s of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences. After moving towards a career in education, Mr. Cline earned his Master’s degree in Science Education from Florida State University, and continued to earn his Education Specialist degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Lincoln Memorial University and Leadership Certification from Kennesaw State University. He expects to complete his Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership this Fall.
Mr. Cline began his teaching career in Palm Beach County, Florida in 2004, teaching science and coaching football before moving to Georgia in 2007. He currently resides in Canton with his wife, Ashley, and their two daughters.
Mr. Cline has served the Cherokee County School District for 16 years, working for nine years as a Science teacher and coaching football and track at Creekview High School before moving to Etowah High School for the 2016-17 school year as a Teacher on Special Assignment. While at Etowah, he served as an administrator and RTI Chair, and supervised the Science Department.
Mr. Cline returned to the Creek in 2017 where he has been an Administrator and Athletic Director at Creekland Middle School. He is looking forward to being the 6th grade and Special Education administrator during the 2023-2024 school year.
Mrs. Celeice Hood, Assistant Principal - 8th Grade
Mrs. Celeice Hood was raised in Cherokee County and graduated from Cherokee High School. She got her undergraduate degree from The University of Georgia, where she met her husband (Eric). She went on to get her Masters degree in Middle Grades Math and English Education from Mercer University. After discovering that she had a desire to become a school leader, she got her Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from Kennesaw State University. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Liberty University.
Her teaching career began in Fulton County at Crabapple Middle School where she taught both English and Math. After taking on a grade level leader role, she had the opportunity to become an instructional coach there. Mrs. Hood has a passion for serving others and building leadership skills in students. She has been involved in service clubs such as Kiwanis Builders Club and was a Relay for Life team sponsor at Crabapple MS. In 2018, she was awarded Suzanne Brown Service Award for dedication to the Crabapple MS community.
Her experience as an instructional coach led her to become the Instructional Lead Strategist at Woodstock High School. While at WHS, she had the opportunity to continue to sponsor the Relay for Life team and to co-sponsor a service club that she participated in as a student, Elves Club. She participated in the Superintendents Leadership Academy for aspiring administrators and was honored to be nominated by her peers as the 2020 recipient of the Dr. Frank R. Petruzielo Scholarship for demonstrating excellence in leadership. She has been thrilled to return to middle school as an administrator at Creekland.
Mrs. Hood lives with her family in Holly Springs, and her children attend Indian Knoll Elementary. Her daughter (Aubrey) is a Girl Scout, and her son (Brycen) enjoys all things athletic. She and her family are big Georgia Bulldawg fans: “Go Dawgs!” In her free time, she enjoys singing, reading, playing board games with her family, and playing tennis.
Angela Gula, Assistant Principal - 7th Grade
Mrs. Gula attended Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education. Upon graduation, Mrs. Gula moved to Holly Springs in 2004 and began her teaching career, serving as a science teacher in Gwinnett and Forsyth County schools for a total of eight years. During this time, she earned a Master of Education in Adolescent Education along with her Leadership Certification from Kennesaw State University.
As a teacher, her passion for technology-rich classrooms led her to become the Instructional Technology Specialist at Little Mill Middle School in 2012. While serving in this position, her school was on the forefront of the BYOT initiative, and she had several groups of students present at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference. While serving as Instructional Technology Specialist she earned a Specialist Degree in Media/Instructional Technology from the University of West Georgia.
In 2019, Mrs. Gula felt led to serve the Little Mill community in a greater capacity and stepped into the role of administration. As an administrator she served as a Lead Assistant Principal for the East Forsyth cluster of schools and was a part of several district-level committees including a health curriculum committee and personalized learning cohort.
As an 19-year resident of Cherokee County, Mrs. Gula is proud to serve the Creekland community. She and her family currently reside in Hickory Flat, and her children attend Dean Rusk Middle School and Hickory Flat Elementary School.
You may reach us at:
Phone: 770.704.4460
Fax: 770.479.3210