Scotty Jones
Scotty Jones of Atlanta will become McCallie’s new Middle School Principal, effective July 2016.
Mr. Jones currently serves as dean of Boys for the sixth grade at Westminster Schools in Atlanta. In his 10 years at Westminster, he has served in various roles, including as middle school curriculum coordinator for fine arts, band director, and middle school tennis coach.
Mr. Jones will take over for Lynn Goss, who will retire as Middle School head at the end of the 2015-16 school year after 21 years in that role. Ms. Goss guided the Middle School during a busy period in its history, with the move to McDonald Hall in 1999 and the addition of a sixth grade class that same year.
The selection of Mr. Jones culminates a national search and a process involving many members of the school community, including faculty, students and administrators. Nearly 100 inquiries/resumes were received from all over the country, and a number of telephone and/or Skype interviews were conducted with a number of them before selecting five finalists from a pool which included outstanding internal candidates, said officials.
"Not only does Scotty have extensive experience as a teacher and leader in a middle school setting, but he has also served on a variety of committees,” said Assistant Head Kenny Sholl. “He has served on the President Search Advisory Committee, Middle School Admissions Committee, Technology/Laptop Implementation Committee, Student Life Board Committee, Faculty Forum Facilitator, and Online Guidelines and Respectable Use Policy Committee, to name just a few.”
Mr. Jones also earned the Edward D. Smith Endowed Chair in Honor of Dr. William Pressly Teaching Award for Distinguished Faculty in 2011. He received the 2015 Alumni Fellow Award from Westminster. In 2004 he received the Teacher of the Year Award from Congressman Danny Davis of Illinois.
"Scotty is an outstanding man, an extraordinary educator, and a wonderful role model for boys," said Headmaster Lee Burns. "I'm certain he will excite and inspire the entire middle school community."
Along with his work at Westminster, Mr. Sholl added, Mr. Jones has lead the High School Odyssey Atlanta Program. Odyssey is an educational non-profit organization partnering with the Atlanta Public Schools to serve students in grades 1-12 from economically disadvantaged communities.
“Scotty will be a great fit at McCallie, and his experiences and skills align with the criteria that the Middle School faculty articulated and developed before the search began,” Mr. Sholl said. “Scotty earned rave reviews from the faculty, boys, and administrators he met with during his day here on campus, as well as those of us who skyped with him before then. He is a man of great character and faith, a deep thinker and intellectual, a life-long learner, an inspiring yet humble man, and a great role model to boys.”
Mr. Jones is married to Laurie, and they have two sons, Caleb and Ethan, and a daughter, Megan.
Many people on faculty and staff devoted time to this process, and Mr. Sholl specifically credited the work and input from the faculty interview team for “taking the responsibility very seriously and providing excellent, detailed feedback.”
Middle School Head Interview Team was led by team chairman Bill Jamieson, and made up of members Tom Adams, Tammy Barber, Maria Gonzalez, Chris Greenwood, Tom Herring, Cary Hubbard, Karen Hulvey, David Levitt, Cindy McCroskey.
The McCallie School is an all-boys boarding and day school founded in 1905 in Chattanooga, with 938 students in grades 6-12 from 24 states and eight countries.
Scotty Jones with his wife, Laurie and kids, Caleb, Ethan and Megan