A number of Mount Airy City Schools officials have been promoted to newly vacant or created positions, with a few of the changes coming about as a result of the retirement this spring of long-time Career and Technical Education director Larry Davis.
• Olivia Sikes will be taking over as director of accountability and Career and Technical Education effective July 1. She will support accountability throughout the district as well as replacing Davis as the head of the career and technical education program. She has served as principal of Mount Airy Middle School for the past three years where she was named Principal of the Year in 2019.
Prior to her leadership at the middle school, she was Tharrington Primary School’s principal for three years following 10 years as a high school math teacher where she was named Teacher of the Year in 2012. During her years as a school leader, she has guided the middle school through the redesignation as one of the Schools to Watch, celebrated with her staff the N.C. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Lighthouse School Award, and led her staff as they earned a spot as a top middle school in North Carolina.
“We are pleased that Olivia Sikes will be supporting our Accountability and Career and Technical Education programs. Accountability is a complex department and drives our school improvement processes. Mrs. Sikes has tremendous strength with numbers having been a high school mathematics teacher and outstanding administrator. CTE is also another area that Mrs. Sikes will lead. Her high school teaching and administrative background provides expertise to lead in this area. She will continue to strengthen our strong school to college and career pathways for all students.”
Jesse Hiatt had been director of accountability and student services for MACS before he went abroad to spend a school year in China from 2017-18. He now serves as director of research and development.
• Levi Goins has been promoted from Mount Airy Middle School assistant principal to principal. Goins began facilitating the school’s curriculum efforts in August 2017 following a one-year internship with the school. Prior to the role of assistant principal, he was a high school science teacher for 10 years where he was named Teacher of the Year in 2014.
He also served six years as head coach of Mount Airy High School’s boys basketball team.
Goins is a graduate of High Point University’s Leadership Academy which is a collaborative effort between the city schools and six other districts. The program prepares candidates for administrative positions in North Carolina through leadership development and job-embedded experiences.
During his years as assistant principal at the middle school, he has facilitated professional learning communities and worked alongside staff as they landed in the top 12% of middle schools in the state, top 5% of middle school for growth, and earned top scores across the state for math and language arts.
“We are excited to name Levi Goins as the next principal of Mount Airy Middle School. Mr. Goins has been an outstanding teacher, coach, and administrator for MACS. He has taken a leading role in moving MAMS to a state leader in academics and will continue to build on this foundation. He understands the district’s curriculum framework well and challenges teachers to continue to excel and grow to their full potential. He is a strong advocate for students and will help students navigate the middle school years,” said Dr. Morrison.
• Nora Santillan, also a graduate of High Point’s Leadership Academy, will be advancing to the role of assistant principal for Mount Airy Middle School. In her 20-year educational career, Santillan has taught English as a foreign language in Argentina, English as a second language at Tharrington, as well as Spanish to kindergarteners and third graders as part of the city schools’ Dual Language Immersion program.
She helped establish the program for the city in 2015, and has just welcomed the sixth cohort of children to the district. For four years, she has been the district’s Dual Language Immersion coordinator and during the 2019-2020 school year she completed her High Point University internship at the middle school. She will continue to serve as the coordinator of the dual language program.
“Mount Airy Middle School is incredibly excited to welcome Ms. Nora Santillan as the assistant principal,” Goins said. “She has worked alongside the administration at the middle school for the last year as an intern and has done an incredible job. Ms. Nora, as the kids call her, has worked hard to build relationships with our students, teachers, and parents. She will undoubtedly continue to move MAMS in the right direction.”
Other promotions
• Scott Dollyhite was recently named director of Exceptional Children and Student Services by the city schools. He has been in education for 16 years following his job as a children’s services worker for Barium Springs Home for Children. He has served as the Exceptional Children’s coordinator since January of 2018.
Prior to this role, he taught students with exceptional needs at Mount Airy High School where he was named Exceptional Children Teacher of Excellence for the district. He also served as the lead exceptional children teacher for the district for two years before becoming coordinator.
In this role, he will continue to serve Exceptional Children students and families but will expand his reach to include all students. Student services, including nursing and counseling, will be under his leadership.
“Mr. Dollyhite has served the students and families of Mount Airy for several years in a leadership capacity. We are confident in his skills to lead this department as we move forward,” said Dr. Phillip Brown, Chief officer of academics and human resources.
• Carrie Venable has been named executive officer of communications for the city schools. In her 18-year educational career she taught for six years, served as an instructional technology facilitator for 12 years, and for the past eight years served as the public information officer for the district. Venable has won 23 Blue Ribbons in that position, as well as Best of the Best for North Carolina with her campaign showcasing Star Students.
“She is known across the state as a champion for public school communications and has created a broad communication plan that helped facilitate homeschool students and charter school students returning to Mount Airy City Schools,” the system said in announcing the promotion.
“Mrs. Carrie Venable does an outstanding job for the district with communications,” said Dr. Morrison. “This role includes complex technology tools and strategies to connect our students, families, community and staff. She has won many state-wide awards and has shown brightly during the recent events that had all students, staff and administrators connecting through communication and technology. She will be an outstanding leader providing vision for continued communication through the coming years.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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