Grady County schools add four new principals

Payton Fletcher, Thomasville Times-Enterprise, Ga.
·3 min read

Aug. 2—The Grady County School System recently welcomed four new principals to their roster, appointed by superintendent Dr. Eric McFee.

New principals include Dr. William Huff of Cairo High School, Thomas Fallaw of Washington Middle School, Stacy Fallaw of Southside Elementary and Selena Williams of Northside Elementary.

Experienced in the educational system, none of the new principals reported any large, wholesale changes coming to their respective schools in the near future.

"Our system did go through some changes this year," Thomas Fallaw said. "We got a new superintendent, we've had some changes in principals throughout the county and that, you know, if your in education long enough, that happens all the time."

Huff noted that five new teachers would working at Cairo High this school year, with Stacy Fallaw mentioning that over 10 new employees overall would be working at Southside Elementary.

Another change coming to schools in the county, according to the principals, are the two new intervention teachers, or specialists, each school has hired that will be handling student instruction on a more individual basis as required.

"Basically, what they will do is, we're kind of doing an combination of pushing into the classroom to assist students that may need that extra boost, extra help, also pulling out students to work with them on, maybe some reading, math skills that there deficit in, trying to fill those gaps left by COVID and just the way things are," Stacy Fallaw said. "Students have had gaps and deficiencies even before COVID so just having an extra set of hands to, um, work with kids."

With new principals across the county, Thomas Fallaw said that they all work together to aid students in their progression from one school to the next as they grow up.

"We know that our school system depends on each school preparing the kids for the next level," he said.

Huff, originally assistant principal of Cairo High before his appointment as principal, said that he was blessed to have been so involved in the school and now at the reins of his new position.

"I've been blessed to have spent a year here as an assistant principal," Huff said. "Being here as principal, in this role, is a blessing, I'm very excited about the opportunity and looking forward to building a cohesive team."

While feeling the pressure of their new positions, the principals shared the sentiment that they wanted to work towards aiding the academic achievement of their students alongside their staff and faculty.

"We just want to be the best educational platform we can for our students," Huff said. "We want to provide them an environment that's free, that allows them to grow and blossom without ridicule or feeling like that don't belong."

Selena Williams of Northside Elementary could not be reached for comments.

Open House is scheduled for August 4 and August 5 for Southside Elementary and Washington Middle School. Open House is scheduled for August 4 for Northside Elementary.

Cairo High School's Freshman Walkabout is scheduled for August 4.