Special to the Tribune
AUBURN — The superintendent of Trussville City Schools in Trussville, Alabama, has been given the Outstanding Administrator Award by the Auburn University College of Education.
Pattie Neill is from Birmingham, where she graduated from Woodlawn High School in 1973 and Auburn University in 1977 with a B. S. Degree in Special Education. She then moved to Tennessee where she worked as a teacher and administrator in Tennessee Public Schools for 30 years. While working in Tennessee, she attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Special Education in 1979, a School Administration Certificate in 1984, and a Doctorate Degree in 1996 in Leadership Studies.
During her 30-year career in Tennessee, Neill worked as a special education teacher and an elementary school principal in Anderson County Schools, a Director of Student Services and Special Education in Oak Ridge Schools, and Superintendent of Schools in Cumberland County. She is a trained mediator from the Justice Center of Atlanta specializing in alternative dispute resolution, a trained hearing officer from the Tennessee State Discipline Hearing Authority, and trained in crisis planning from Homeland Security.
Upon her return to Birmingham in 2007, Neill worked as a professor at Samford University where she taught leadership classes and trained future school leaders in the graduate program for Leadership Studies. She taught Instructional Leadership courses, Management and Program Design, Business Management, Foundations of Educational Research, Policy and Politics in Education, and Organizational Dynamics in the Master’s and Doctoral programs. She served as Chairman of doctoral committees where she directed the dissertation process, and she directed diversity training for the School of Education’s NCATE re-accreditation. During her tenure at Samford, she was a faculty senator from the School of Education and was an active member of Alabama Association of Professors in Educational Leadership (APPEL). She also served as an educational consultant for the Tarrant City School Board superintendent search, and conducted professional development leadership seminars in Montgomery Public Schools, Mountain Brook Schools, Selma City, Lowndes County, Perry County, and School Superintendents of Alabama (SSA).
Neill has been Superintendent of Trussville City Schools since 2012 and has worked with the school board to complete a new high school football stadium, 3 elementary school construction projects, strategic planning, passing a 7 mill tax referendum, organizational management, school culture, curriculum alignment, test score improvement, character education, and anti-bullying initiatives. She received the prestigious Archive Award from the Eastern Women’s Committee of Fifty and is now President of this service organization. She is an avid runner and won first place in her age division in the Maple Leaf 5K run in 2015 and 2016. She is a member of the Auburn University Strategic Athletic Advisory Council, a Life Member of the Auburn Alumni Association, and an active Alpha Omicron Pi (AOTT) alumni from the Auburn Delta Delta Chapter. She is an adjunct professor at Samford University in the School of Education for Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership. Dr. Neill has one son, David, who is a Creative Director for an advertising agency in New York City. Dr. Neill is a resident of Trussville, Alabama.
7 Comments
Doug Lowery
I would like for you to check on Trussville recruiting High School players too many transfers lately
David Kirk
Curious what you are saying. Are you wanting verification of transfers into the program or out of the program?
Vonne McDonald McAnnally
Do they live in Trussville’s school district?
Scott White
Isn’t this the same lady who ran coach Johns off?
Claudine Land
Fantastic! Congratulations Patti! We look forward to continued progress within TCS!
Dwight Gardner
This is outstanding! It’s apparent she has really helped Trussville Schools thrive.
Laura McCants Reddick- Reichert
Congratulations, Dr. Neill!