Dr. Staggs makes transition
Franklin Special School District Director of Schools Dr. David Snowden, has announced that Dr. Hank Staggs will leave his post as assistant principal at Poplar Grove School to fill the role of principal at Freedom Intermediate School. Current Freedom Intermediate School principal Dr. Sean Impeartrice has accepted a job as Director of Middle Schools in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System.
"Dr. Staggs was selected from a group of very highly qualified in-district candidates," Snowden said. "He has previous positive leadership experience, excellent interpersonal skills, a philosophy of team building and collaboration, and an obvious desire and dedication to maximize the opportunities for each child. We look forward to working with him as he and the Freedom Intermediate School faculty and staff members continue to build upon the school’s success."
Taking on the role of principal mid-year does hold some challenges, for which Staggs said he is prepared. "Coming in mid-year will bring some challenges that may not exist during the summer, but it will also be easier in some respects," Staggs said. "Obviously I will be a semester behind in getting to know the Freedom Intermediate community of students, teachers, and parents, and that will be my first priority. A great advantage of transitioning this time of year is that I will be able to work with Dr. Impeartrice on site several days as we transition. Freedom has such a high quality faculty and administrative team already in place doing a great job. The typical beginning of school planning has been done and that will allow me to focus on getting to know the people and learning how I can best serve them."
Staggs, originally from Florence, AL, came to the FSSD in June of 2005 to serve as assistant principal at Poplar Grove, a K-8 balanced calendar school. Other past school leadership experience includes time as a fifth through eighth grade principal at Goodpasture Christian in Madison, TN, where he served for seven years. He was an adjunct professor at Tennessee State University in educational administration for two years, and additionally, spent five years as a middle school math teacher at both Goodpasture and at Jackson Christian School in West Tennessee. Along with his teaching and administrative experience, Dr. Staggs holds a Doctor of Education from TSU, and a Master of Education and a Bachelor’s degree from Freed-Hardeman University.
While Freedom Intermediate looks forward to getting to know Staggs, those at Poplar Grove who are already familiar with his excellent leadership skills will be busy looking for someone to fill his shoes.
"Poplar Grove is such a wonderful school and I will miss seeing the faculty and students each day," Staggs said. "It has been a great experience working on the administrative team with Lee Kirkpatrick, Vanessa Garcia, and Kay Boan. They are such quality people and excellent administrators, from whom I have learned a lot about school leadership. I am so glad that we will be able to continue working together within FSSD."
For more information, contact:
Susannah Gentry
FSSD Communications Specialist
1406 Cannon Street
Franklin, TN 37064
615-591-2802
