By Crystal McGough, Editor
TRUSSVILLE – Trussville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Patrick Martin has named his recommendation to the school board for the new principal at Hewitt-Trussville High School. After a thorough interview process, that individual is Mr. Aaron King, who has been the principal at Huntsville High School for the past eight years.
“We posted the position, and we had 33 individuals who applied for the high school principal job,” Martin said. “Aside from that, I also reached out to the state association that represents principals and asked their executive director, ‘Who are the superstars from around the state?’ So, I assembled a committee and that committee interviewed eight individuals. Some of those individuals had applied, but other individuals we sought because we were told by C.L.A.S. (Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools) who these really good administrators were.
“I asked the committee if they would bring me the top three or four from that, and then I would interview them as a second-round finalist interview, just myself. They brought me two. They said there was a clear line of delineation between the top two candidates and the rest of the field. So I sat down with those two candidates and interviewed them. And so, our recommendation for high school principal is a gentleman by the name of Aaron King. I’m recommending him on Monday night to the Board of Education to serve as our next principal at Hewitt-Trussville High School.”
Once voted in by the board, King’s official starting date will be July 1, and he already has plans to hit the ground running forming relationships in the community.
“I want to learn everything about Trussville. Not only the school system, but I want to learn about the city, the traditions, the people,” King said. “Usually, the high school is a great cross-section of the community and what I’m looking forward to is learning what people are accustomed to as far as tradition. Traditions are a big deal to me, so I want to make sure that we value and respect Trussville City School’s traditions and Trussville city’s traditions.”
Not only will King be a welcome addition to the Trussville community, but he’s bringing along with him his wife of 16 years, Kristen, and their three daughters, Elizabeth, Rachel and Rebecca.
“I’m invested into this community because, from day one, I’m going to have three children in this school system,” he said. “What’s kind of neat about this incoming freshman class is Dr. Martin has two freshmen, I have a freshman, the athletic director has a freshman, and the board president has a freshman. I’m sure there are many others – this is a great opportunity to do something special.”
Prior to becoming principal at Huntsville High School, King was principal at Huntsville Middle School for three years and operations director for Huntsville City Schools the year before that. He is also a former Army officer and got his undergraduate degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
King got his master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and his specialist’s degree from Samford University, both in educational leadership.
“There’s something special going on in Trussville and I’m excited to be a part of it,” King said. “With everything coming together with leadership at the district office, leadership at the high school office, everyone working together with a unified approach and with the community rallied behind it, there’s no reason that we can’t be number one in all aspects: in academics, athletics and the arts.”
According to Dr. Martin, naming King as high school principal is not the only exciting change happening in Trussville City Schools right now. Current HTMS Principal Jennifer Abney will be assuming a new role with TCS: Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instruction Program Supervisor for Secondary Schools.
“Basically, I’m going to be working with our secondary schools in a support role, mentorship role and just trying to help in any way that I can,” Abney said. “I’m really excited about this. I was a high school teacher and administrator, I’ve been a middle school teacher and administrator, and I’m just ready to see the new and exciting things that our district is going to make happen with this. I’m happy and grateful to be part of it.”
Dr. Martin said that, in assessing the Trussville City Schools system, he discovered there was a need at the Board of Education for someone in a supportive role to the middle and high school, especially when it comes to academic testing, and Abney was an obvious fit.
“I had been talking with Jennifer Abney about some opportunities for her and feel that we could tap into a resource there to support us at the Board of Education,” Martin said. “The Board of Education entered into a contract with a firm that looked at their organizational chart and one of the recommendations that they had was that there were some gaps administratively at the Board of Education, specifically in the areas of testing – we have quite a bit of testing that takes place with all of our students, K-12 – and then also in the area of special education, serving students with IEPs and 504s.
“Everyone I’ve talked to thinks very highly of Jennifer. She has built great relationships with our schools, and so with a new principal coming into the high school, I thought she may be able to leverage her contacts here in Trussville, her relationships in Trussville, and really serve as a support for Mr. King.”
Along with this move, current HTHS Assistant Principal Jared Meads is going to be named Interim Principal at the middle school.
“We need to fulfill the appropriate posting requirements, but he will step in as an interim into the middle school,” Martin said. “He interviewed with me for the high school principal job. He was there last year in a high school AP capacity, so I’ll want to sit down and have a conversation with him about what that looks like now as a potential middle school candidate. But you know, he’s spent a lot of his career at that middle school, so I think he will be a very, very strong candidate; very hard to beat for that position.”
Martin said that Meads was the other candidate who made it to the top two finalists for the high school principal position.
“I feel like I’ve had great leadership above me,” Meads said. “I have had a lot of great mentors in this district with Dr. Berry and Mrs. Abney and Mrs. Young. Being able to work under those three has been really good for me.”
Meads was born and raised in Trussville and graduated from HTHS in 2007. He taught at Moody before coming to HTMS for eight years, four as a teacher and four as an administrator. Last year, he served as assistant principal at the high school.
As for going back to HTMS, Meads said, “It’s going home for me; I’ve spent many years there. … I know the kind of team that HTMS has from counselor, admin, faculty and staff. It’s a special place so it’s definitely exciting to be going back there in that role.”