Principal's Bio

I am a life-long resident of Tuscaloosa.  After attending Tuscaloosa city schools, I enrolled at the University of Montevallo to become a music education major.  That effort was cut short when Uncle Sam eliminated college deferments and I was drafted into the Army.  Upon completing my military service, which included a tour of duty as a combat medic in Vietnam, I returned to Tuscaloosa.  After several years in the construction industry, I returned to college full-time in 1982 to pursue my original dream of becoming a teacher.  Administration soon came calling and after six years in the classrooms and one year at the central office, I became a principal.  This year marks my 18th year as a principal at four different county schools.  I've been at Taylorville Primary since it opened in 2001.  Most days, I feel like I have the best job in the country!

My wife, Gloria, and I have a grown daughter (Jenny) who has made Atlanta her home and another daughter (Britain), who is a sophomore at the University of Alabama.  In April 2003, Montez came to live with us and he is now a sixth grader at Rock Quarry Middle School.

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor's Degree - University of Alabama - December 1983
• Master's Degree - University of Alabama - May 1985
• Doctorate - University of Alabama - May 1992

EXPERIENCE:

Beginning my educational career in 1984 at Brookwood Elementary School, I taught 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th grades.  In 1990 I moved to a central office position as director of the county's dropout prevention program.  I was interim principal at Westwood Elementary when school opened in 1991 and was named principal of Maxwell Elementary School on October 1, 1991.  My six-year tenure at Englewood Elementary School began on July 1, 1995.  Before the school split six years later, it grew to become the largest K-5 school in the state with over 1,250 students.  In July 2001, I became principal of Taylorville Primary School, the first and only K-2 school in Tuscaloosa County.