5 Principals Named For Hamilton County Schools

Five school principals were named today for Hamilton County Schools.  Barger Academy of Fine Arts, Daisy Elementary, Snow Hill Elementary, Spring Creek Elementary and Signal Mountain Middle/High all received new leaders with the announcement.  In selecting candidates for these leadership positions, district administrators considered desired characteristics and experience preferences provided by teachers, staff, and parents.

 

Roxanne Anthony will be the new principal of Barger Academy of Fine Arts.

Ms. Anthony is currently the assistant principal of Clifton Hills Elementary School.  She has also served as an assistant principal at Spring Creek Elementary School.  Ms. Anthony began her teaching career at Calvin Donaldson Elementary and later became a literacy leader with Reading First. Ms. Anthony also served as a literacy coach for Hamilton County, serving Red Bank Elementary and Falling Water Elementary schools. Ms. Anthony’s talent for understanding young children and her love for fostering student success were important qualities of parents at Barger. She has participated in leadership training with Osborne Fellowship, Leadership Fellows, and Principal Leadership Academy through the partnership with Public Education Foundation and Hamilton County Department of Education. She received her bachelor’s degree from Jackson State University; master’s from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Administrative Leadership certification from UTC.

 

Lee Zeigler comes to Daisy Elementary from East Brainerd Elementary. He has been an assistant principal for grades three thru fifth at East Brainerd since 2016.  East Brainerd Elementary is the largest elementary school in the district with approximately 1200 students. Mr. Zeigler’s experience and success at the elementary level were very important to parents of the Daisy community.  He assisted with the professional learning networks between staff at East Brainerd and coached and developed teachers in the classroom. He also helped develop a new teacher mentor program for the school.  Before becoming an administrator, Mr. Zeigler was an instructional math coach in the district.  He coached teachers at East Ridge, Harrison, and Clifton Hills Elementary in math instruction.  He served as a member of the Institute Educational Sciences Model Coaching Project to develop a coaching model for the state of Tennessee. he started his career in education as a math and science teacher.  He worked at Tyner Middle School in Hamilton County; Asheboro High School and Southwestern Randolph High in Asheboro, North Carolina; and at Coleridge Elementary School in Coleridge, North Carolina. Mr. Zeigler spent ten years in ministry working with youth, college and family ministry in Asheboro, North Carolina, and in the Chattanooga area.  Work at the Brainerd Baptist Church brought him to Chattanooga.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Mars Hill University, a master’s from Carson-Newman University, and he is a current member of cohort 20 in the ED.D Leadership Program at Trevecca Nazarene University.

 

Phil Iannarone, current principal at Spring Creek Elementary, moves over to become the principal at Snow Hill Elementary.  He has been the principal at Spring Creek since 2014. He also has administrative experience in Hamilton County Schools as an assistant principal at East Lake Academy and Hunter Middle School.  He began his career in Hamilton County as a CTE teacher at Central High School in 2004.  Originally from Long Island New York and affectionately known as “Mr. I” to teachers, parents, and students, Iannarone came to the area to attend Lee University, where he earned his BS degree in education. He began his career in the private school sector where he served as a teacher and a principal for 13 years. During that time he earned his master’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a specialist’s degree from Lee. His successful tenure as a private school principal provided multiple speaking and mentoring opportunities. He also served as a consultant for Christian schools in the southeast. Mr. Iannarone has participated in PEF Leadership Fellows Cohort 7 and Principal Leadership Academy Cohort 3. He believes success is possible for all students which was very important to the parents of Snow Hill.   

 

Kristy Dillard will be the new principal Spring Creek Elementary replacing Mr. Iannarone, and she will be very familiar to the children and parents at Spring Creek.  She has served as the school’s assistant principal since 2015.  Before Spring Creek, Ms. Dillard was the assistant principal at Clifton Hills Elementary for the 2014-2015 school year.  She started her career as a classroom teacher at Bess T. Shepherd Elementary.  She also served as a literacy support teacher for grades three through five at Shepherd, facilitated professional development and served as acting principal in case of the absence of the principal.  Ms. Dillard has taught in third, fourth, and fifth-grade.  Leadership training and experience for Dillard has included TN CORE Integrated Leadership courses, Hamilton County Balanced Leadership training, Cohort 7 of the Public Education Foundation’s Principal Leadership Academy, and PEF Leadership Fellows Program Cohort 12.  She is a board member of HBC Operation Community Impact. Ms. Dillard has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a master’s from Trevecca Nazarene University. 

 

Dr. Shane Harwood will be a very familiar face in the Signal Mountain community as he takes over as principal at Signal Mountain Middle/High. Dr. Harwood has been a very successful principal at Nolan Elementary in the Signal Mountain community for the last eight years.  He checks off several qualifications and qualities that were important to parents in the Signal Mountain community.  He is familiar with the community, an experienced principal, and committed to community and parent involvement in the school. “I am very thankful for the opportunity to serve as principal at Signal Mountain Middle/High School,” said Dr. Harwood. “I’m excited to now lead the amazing faculty and staff at Signal Mountain Middle/High, and I am thankful for the opportunity to continue serving our Signal Mountain community.”  He began his career in Hamilton County Schools in 1998 as a teacher at Hardy Elementary. He then moved to North Hamilton County Elementary where he taught from 1999 to 2006.  He was promoted to assistant principal at Snow Hill Elementary in 2006 and served in that role for two years before becoming the principal at the school in 2008. Dr. Harwood served at Snow Hill for two years before moving to Nolan Elementary as principal in 2010. It is a bittersweet moment for Dr. Harwood as he leaves Nolan Elementary.  “My family and I have been blessed in so many ways during my eight years at Nolan,” he said. “The faculty and staff are unbelievable, and I am thankful for the opportunity to have served our children and our community alongside them.” Dr. Harwood received National Board Certification in 2016; he was a participant in Leadership Chattanooga in 2014, and he served as a PEF Gateway Principal in 2018. He earned a bachelor’s from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a master’s from Tennessee Technological University and his doctorate from Walden University.