Hamilton County Schools Announce Personnel And Leader Updates
Photo Credit: Hamilton County Schools
Published May 12, 2021
Hamilton County, TN – As the district plans for the 2021-2022 school year, Hamilton County Schools have announced many personnel and school leader updates.
Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson said, “Hamilton County Schools is focused on recruiting and retaining great teachers and leaders. Part of that commitment means developing existing talent within our team to best serve the district. These changes within our team show the value of investing in growing your own employees, and we are thrilled to welcome this group into these new roles.”
Announced on May 10th, Andrea Johnson is the new principal at Barger Academy. She previously served as the principal at Lakeside Academy, a Level 5 school.
Johnson, a 26-year veteran of Hamilton County Schools, first joined the district as a teacher and taught for 13 years. In 2008, she moved to the district level as a secondary literacy coordinator, and later served as assistant principal at both Woodmore Elementary School and Lakeside Academy. Johnson has been the principal at Lakeside Academy since 2014.
Dr. Jill Levine will lead the Chattanooga Center for the Creative Arts (CCA). She is currently the chief of innovation and choice for the district.
Prior to her current role, Dr. Levine served as the chief of the Opportunity Zone, a learning community focused on turnaround of the twelve highest needs schools in the district, as well as serving previously as the chief academic officer of the school district.
From 2013-2015, Dr. Levine served as the first full time Principal Ambassador Fellow at the United States Department of Education.
“While I have loved serving schools in my current role, I have really missed being around teachers and kids every day in a school,” said Dr. Levine.
Roxanne Anthony has been named principal at Harrison Elementary School. Anthony previously served as the principal at Barger Academy.
Anthony, a 24-year veteran of Hamilton County Schools, joined the district in 1997 as a teacher at Calvin Donaldson Elementary School.
In 2005, she began a new role in literacy coaching for Calvin Donaldson Elementary School, Red Bank Elementary School, and Falling Water Elementary School. She served as assistant principal of Spring Creek Elementary School and Clifton Hills Elementary before becoming the principal at Barger Academy.
Karyn Cox has been named principal at Brown Middle School. Previously, she served as an assistant principal at Soddy Daisy High School.
Between her time as a teacher and as a school leader, Cox has over 30 years of experience.
She began her career as an English Teacher and her first job as an assistant principal was at East Hamilton Middle High School. From there, she became an assistant principal at Hunter Middle School and then Soddy Daisy High School where she led the Future Ready Institutes for business marketing and information technology.
Haley Brown is the new principal at Allen Elementary School. Previously, she served as principal of Red Bank Elementary School for nine years.
Brown, a 24-year educator, began her career with Hamilton County Schools in 2002 a teacher at Normal Park Museum Magnet Lower School.
In 2007, she moved into administration and became principal of Red Bank Elementary School in 2012. During her time at Red Bank Elementary, Brown led the school to achieve Level 5 status during the 2018-2019 school year and earn STEM Designation from the state of Tennessee.
Lindsey Hagan has been named principal at Red Bank Elementary School. She previously served as assistant principal at Barger Academy.
Hagan, a 12-year educator, joined Hamilton County Schools in 2012 as an elementary music specialist at Bess T. Shepherd Elementary. Since then, she’s served in several administrative roles including assistant principal at Wallace A. Smith Elementary, Hardy Elementary and Barger Academy.
Announced on May 7th, David Cory will be the new principal at East Ridge Elementary School. He previously served as assistant principal at Harrison Elementary School and has 20 years of experience in education.
Prior to joining Hamilton County Schools, Cory served as a principal for nearly 10 years in California. Before he became a principal, he was an assistant principal, taught elementary school for nine years, coached basketball as well as track, and led several technology initiatives.
Phillip Greeson will be the new principal at Ooltewah Middle School. Previously, he served as principal at Allen Elementary School.
Greeson, a 26-year educator, began his career as a school counselor in Chattanooga City Schools. He has worked in several school districts and held a variety of positions including assistant principal, director of human resources, and director of administrative services.
Chris James will lead the Harrison Bay Future Ready Center. He previously served as principal of Brainerd High School.
James, a 16-year educator, began his career as a registrar for the School For Integrated Academics and Technologies Charter High School in Atlanta, Ga. Since then, he’s served in a variety of roles, including instructional specialist, special education teacher, and assistant principal.
James has been the principal of Brainerd High School since 2018.
James replaces Gary Kuehn, who is retiring after nearly 39 years of service with Hamilton County Schools.
Announced on April 29, Angie Cass has been named the principal at Soddy Daisy High School. She previously served as principal of Ooltewah High School.
Cass is a product of Hamilton County Schools and a 23-year veteran of the district. Throughout her career, she has worked as a teacher, district curriculum coach, assistant principal and principal at a variety of schools in the district.
Cass replaces Steve Henry, who’s retiring after serving as principal at Soddy Daisy High School for the last five years and after working with Hamilton County Schools for 41 years.
Karen Hollis will be the new principal at Ooltewah High School. Previously, Hollis served as principal at Ooltewah Elementary School.
Hollis, a 33-year veteran of Hamilton County Schools, began her career as a teacher at Howard Elementary School where she taught for 13 years. She moved into administration and served as the assistant principal at Hardy Elementary and principal at Ganns Middle Valley Elementary.
In 2011, Hollis became the elementary operations director for the district where she planned, organized, and directed operations for elementary schools in the district. She returned to principalship in 2019, serving as the interim principal at Spring Creek Elementary and principal at Ooltewah Elementary.
Bethanie Reynolds has been named the new principal at Ooltewah Elementary School. She previously served as assistant principal at Ooltewah Elementary School.
Reynolds, a 14-year veteran of Hamilton County Schools, joined the district in 2007 as a teacher at Clifton Hills Elementary. She moved into administration in 2015 when she became the assistant principal at Battle Academy. Since then, she has served as assistant principal and athletic director for Hunter Middle School, as well as assistant principal of Ooltewah Elementary School.
Announced on April 22nd, Crystal Sorrells has been named the principal at Brainerd High School. She previously served as principal of East Ridge High School and was named 2021 Principal of the Year for Hamilton County Schools.
Sorrells, a Brainerd High School graduate, has been an educator for 22 years and is the daughter of two longtime HCS educators. She first joined Hamilton County Schools in 2009 as assistant principal at Brainerd High School. Since then, she’s served as principal at Orchard Knob Middle, Tyner Middle Academy and East Ridge High School.
Juan Moreno has been named the principal at East Ridge High School. He previously served as principal of East Ridge Elementary School.
Moreno began his career as a kindergarten teacher at Spring Creek Elementary School in 2009 and was there until 2016, when he was hired as assistant principal of East Ridge Elementary School. In 2018, Moreno was named the principal of East Ridge Elementary School.
Jasmine Farrow has been named the principal at East Lake Elementary School. She previously served as assistant principal at East Side Elementary School.
Farrow, a thirteen-year veteran of the district, is an accomplished professional educator with proven expertise in classroom instruction, professional development, change management, and servant leadership. Prior to her role as assistant principal at East Side, Farrow was an elementary teacher at East Brainerd Elementary and Woodmore Elementary.
Farrow replaces Joyce Lancaster, who is retiring after 37 years of service with Hamilton County Schools.
Breckan Duckworth has been named the new Literacy Officer of Hamilton County Schools. Duckworth previously served as an English language arts lead for the district.
Duckworth’s literacy work will support the district’s strategic plan. It will also focus on one of the district’s focus five performance targets: to see at least 50% of all third-grade students scoring proficient or advanced as measured by the TNReady English Language Arts assessment by 2023. The literacy officer position is grant-funded.
Dr. Sarah Lane has been named the principal at Bess T. Shepherd Elementary School. Previously, she served as assistant principal at Loftis Middle School.
She has previously worked in the district as a lead literacy teacher as well as literacy coach and elementary school teacher at Woodmore Elementary, Rivermont Elementary, Normal Park Museum Magnet, and Clifton Hills Elementary.
Lane replaces Valerie Brown, who is retiring after 28 years of service with Hamilton County Schools and 37 years in Tennessee public education.
