Longtime School Custodian Becoming A Teacher After Earning Degree

DORAVILLE, GA — Tylan Bailey has been well known to the students who have roamed the halls of Hightower Elementary School in Doraville for the last two-plus decades as the school’s head custodian.

Now, young learners at another Atlanta area school will get to know Bailey — not as a custodian but as their teacher.

At age 43, Bailey earned his teaching degree earlier this spring at Georgia State University, fulfilling a dream that never waned during his 23 years at Hightower. He told Patch the opportunity presented itself, so he got a second job and pursued the physical education degree he has now.

“Always be more,” Bailey told Patch. “Sometimes, you have to meet your blessings halfway."

An east-side Atlanta native and 1997 alum of the now-shuttered Avondale High School, Bailey said he’d like to become a coach somewhere down the line but, for now, will focus on the physical education aspect of his career.

“He’s going to be an awesome teacher,” Hightower Principal Sheila Price told WSBT earlier this month, referring to Bailey as a "mentor" and "positive role model for our students."

He said a teaching job is “in the works” and will be in place at another Atlanta area school by this fall.

Leaving Hightower, Bailey said, will be “bittersweet.”

“Everyone there (at Hightower) treats each other like family,” he said. “I love it there, and you get used to a certain culture, but it’s time I have to grow and pursue my dreams.”