Catawba Ridge High School will get a new principal. Here’s what we know

John Marks
·2 min read

Catawba Ridge High School in Fort Mill will get a new principal.

Meanwhile, Darren Wilson, the current principal, is expected to take a new administrative role in the Rock Hill School District. Wilson confirmed to The Herald he’s taken a new position in Rock Hill.

The Rock Hill School District has announced administrative changes including the addition of Wilson as assistant superintendent of human resources for classified employees. Wilson brings dozens of years experience as a school administrator, teacher and coach.

The Fort Mill School District posted the principal job at Catawba Ridge for what will be the school’s third principal. The job posting lists October as the available date.

In 2020, the district named Wilson as the Catawba Ridge principal after the departure of Dee Christopher. Christopher came from Fort Mill High School when Catawba Ridge opened, and left to become superintendent for an Anderson County school district.

Like Christopher, Wilson brought longstanding ties to Fort Mill education with him. Wilson spent time as assistant principal at Fort Mill and Catawba Ridge. He brought 26 years of educational experience when he took over at Catawba Ridge, all within the Fort Mill district.

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Catawba Ridge is the newest of three high schools in the Fort Mill district. It’s situated along the rapidly growing Dobys Bridge Road and Fort Mill Parkway corridors, where new homes in neighborhoods like Waterside, Massey and Elizabeth continue to swell student counts. Catawba Ridge opened in 2019, in the school year cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joe Burke, information officer for the Fort Mill district, said the district there is saddened to see Wilson leave but wishes him the best as Wilson moves on to a promotion. A formal announcement of Wilson’s replacement will come after the process of identifying the new principal, which is ongoing. Wilson continues to work with the Fort Mill district during the transition period, Burke said, to help identify the next Catawba Ridge principal.