During Monday night’s monthly Washington C.H. City School Board meeting, the board accepted the superintendent’s recommendation to hire Tracy Rose as principal of the high school.
During the meeting, the board also accepted Rose’s resignation as the high school’s assistant principal in order to hire him as principal.
Rose started his career in Hillsboro as a special education teacher from 1995 to 1999. In 1999, Rose then moved to Eastside, where he stayed for one year. Rose then spent one year at Cherry Hill before moving to Washington Middle School. Rose served as the middle school assistant principal beginning with the 2002-2003 school year until he became the assistant principal at the high school in 2011.
”I am very excited, I grew up in Washington Court House, so getting to be the principal of the high school that I graduated from is pretty amazing, ” Rose said. “I have had some wonderful mentors and I have worked with some great teachers throughout the years. I hope that I can bring bits and pieces of each of them to this new position. I am very, very excited to work with the staff in this new capacity also. We’ve had lots of new teachers over the past year and we’re gaining a few new teachers to the building this year, too.
“Education has changed an awful lot as well, and I not only want to help students with the changes in testing, but with the life skills they’re going to need once they leave and get out into life after high school,” Rose continued. “I tell the kids three things every year: 1) love what you do — and I absolutely love what I do; 2) challenge yourself — this is a different role, it requires a different skill-set. I love these challenges and I think that I’ve been well prepared for them; and 3) change the world — I just hope that I have been practicing what I preach and have made a difference to the kids I am around because I couldn’t be happier right now.”
Rose is replacing Casey Wood as principal.
“People come and go,” Wood said. “I was presented with an opportunity and I had to take it.” Wood didn’t elaborate on the opportunity he referenced.
The board also accepted $57,524 worth of donations that will go toward the track camp fund, health fair benefits, auditorium restoration, and the Darlene McCaine Education Scholarship. The board also accepted $90,742.04 in funding from the Auditor of State.
The board accepted the resignation of Kelsey Boyer, a Belle Aire teacher and Meghan Homola, a Washington Middle School teacher.
The board also accepted the employment of Megan Butcher, a second grade teacher at Cherry Hill, Sherri Green, a math teacher at Washington Middle School, Victoria Klaiber, a third grade teacher at Belle Aire, Molly Keager, a math teacher at Washington Middle School, Susan Eubanks, an intervention specialist at Washington High School, and Leandra Roble, an intervention specialist at Washington High School.
According to Superintendent Matthew McCorkle, there are still six positions left to be filled before the 2015-2016 school year begins.
The registration dates for students who are new to the Washington C.H. City Schools were announced during Monday night’s meeting: Cherry Hill Primary (Grades K-2), located at 720 Oakland Ave., will be on Friday , July 31, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; Belle Aire Intermediate School (Grades 3-5), located at 1120 High St., will be on Friday, July 31, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; Washington Middle School (Grades 6-8), located at 500 S. Elm St., will begin Wednesday, Aug. 5, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Washington High School (Grades 9-12), located at 400 S. Elm St., will begin on Thursday, Aug. 6, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
The registration dates are only for those students who have moved into the district over the summer or who have not already registered for kindergarten.
All kindergarten students will be screened on July 31 at Cherry Hill Primary School.