WENTWORTH — A principal who guided one Rockingham County elementary school off of the state’s failure list, then led another elementary school as one of the first to pilot the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support state program, has been named Rockingham County Schools’ Principal of the Year.
These days, Russell Vernon, a Caswell County native, is principal at Rockingham Early College High School on the campus of Rockingham Community College here.
“It is an honor to be named Principal of the Year for Rockingham County Schools,” Vernon said of his accolades. “I am truly blessed to have great support, wonderful colleagues and friendships that will last forever.”
Vernon’s always “thought of my staff and those working with me as a part of my extended family,” he said in a recent interview. “I still love my job. I look forward to coming to work everyday because everyday I have the opportunity to help a child, guide a teacher, and make a difference in the lives of those around me.”
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After making the award announcement last month, RCS Superintendent Rodney Shotwell presented Vernon with leather briefcase filled with supplies.
The honor of being named the district’s top principal meant that in mid-December, Vernon and 14 other area candidates competed in a regional interview competition to qualify to be considered for North Carolina’s top principal of 2021. Results of that qualifying round will come at the end of January.
The son of Robert and Ruth Vernon, the educator graduated from Bartlett-Yancey Senior High School in 1992 and earned his associate of arts degree in 1995 from RCC.
Vernon went on to earn his bachelor of science degree in middle school education with a concentration on science and social studies from East Carolina University in 1998.
By 2016, Vernon obtained his superintendent licenses (Specialist in Education) at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He’s now working on his doctorate in education degree at UNCG.
While at East Carolina, Vernon met Amanda Worsham from Ruffin. They were married in June 1999, the year after Vernon began working for Rockingham County Schools.
His first job was teaching 8th grade science, 7th grade social studies, reading remediation and serving as yearbook sponsor at the old Wentworth Elementary/Middle School, which was a k-8th grade campus at the time.
“I loved teaching and enjoyed helping my students each and every day,” Vernon said. “As the 6th grade team chair, I knew leadership was where I could make a difference, by helping adults be better teachers and working to strengthen the curriculum for all students.”
In 2000, Rockingham County Middle School opened and Vernon moved there to teach 6th grade science, lead the yearbook staff and coach track and field.
In 2006, after earning his master of school administration degree from Appalachian State University, Vernon was tapped to serve as assistant principal at Wentworth Elementary for four years. He next worked as assistant principal of Leaksville-Spray Elementary in Eden through 2014.
The flexible Vernon then transferred to Draper Elementary, serving as turnaround principal and working closely with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and a team of teachers to increase test scores and remove Draper from the roster of the state’s failing schools.
“One of the things that we did at Draper was to make the school a one-to-one elementary school with electronic devices,” Vernon said. “I had an amazing staff that worked to integrate project-based learning into all grade levels.’’
Under Vernon’s leadership, Draper Elementary in 2013 won the national Gale/Library Media Connection Teams Award.
Since the school did not have any computers when he began, Vernon wanted to fortify the school with high tech tools. And within three years, he had purchased Chrome Books for every student in 3rd through 5th grades; Ipads, for kindergartners through 6th graders; and Nooks and Ipads for 2nd graders. On top of that, Vernon and his staff introduced special programs to integrate the tools into as many learning activities as possible.
After four years, Draper Elementary was removed from NCDPI’s failure list and Vernon was assigned to Huntsville Elementary School with the mission to enrich students’ learning with computers.
“We were one of the first elementary schools to pilot the MTSS (Multi-Tiered Support System),’’ Vernon said, adding he “worked with an amazing staff that created a family atmosphere each day for staff and students.’
Since 2017, Vernon has served as principal of RECHS and said, “I really am enjoying this position. I feel like I have come full circle after 23 years with Rockingham County Schools.
That kind of longevity means that some of Vernon’s current students are children Vernon’s former pupils.
The Vernons lived in Ruffin for five years before moving to Wentworth in 2003. Three years later, their son Carter, was born.
In addition to being a leader in education, Vernon takes his civic duty seriously. For the past 20 years, he has served his community as a volunteer with the Ruffin and Wentworth fire departments as a firefighter, lieutenant and safety officer. Now he is Wentworth Fire Department’s fire commissioner. He will retire from his fire duties on June 30.
In addition, Vernon is a member of the Reidsville Rotary Club and enjoys “the work that we do to help better our communities.’’
“It has been a blessing to be a part of every level of Rockingham County,” Vernon said. “I look forward to more years to come.”