Two assistant principals named at CHS

The changes going on at Clinton High School include not only new incoming principal Paula Harp, but two new assistant principals as well — Michelle Douglas and Chad Pugh. 
This will be the first year there has been more than one assistant principal at CHS. The change was made because enrollment at the school continues to increase, said Superintendent of Schools Kevin Hime. 
“When I first started with the district there were 400 kids at the high school. A principal and one assistant principal is good at that level, but there’s going to be close to 700 kids at the high school this year. 
“When you start getting that many kids, especially with our big push starting this year for college and career readiness, we had to expand those positions.” 
The “push” Hime is referring to is the district’s selection earlier this year as a GEARUP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) grant recipient. Beginning with the 2018-2019 academic year, Clinton will receive close to $1 million in federal monies over the next four to five years to prepare middle and high school students for college. 
Although both Douglas and Pugh have been with Clinton Schools for several years, their roles as assistant principals will mean changes for them. 
Pugh was previously the athletic director and assistant principal at the middle school, and head coach for boys’ basketball at the high school. He said the new job will require him to spend much more time at school. 
“The biggest difference now is that as athletic director, that took up the majority of my time so I didn’t spend as much time in classrooms. I had a lot of duties after school that were going to ball games and working with the assistant coaches. 
“This year I’ll still be the head boys’ basketball coach, but during the day I’ll mostly be spending my time at school in the classrooms and handling discipline, things like that.”
Another of his tasks will be performing teacher evaluations, which will be divided between him, Douglas and Harp. 
“All of us are trying to get better at what we do, so a big part of my job will be spending time in the classrooms and working with teachers to make sure we’re doing our best for our students. 
“So we’ll spend a lot of time in classrooms in order to evaluate and help teachers, and make sure they have all the support they need and the tools necessary to do their job.”
Douglas, now in her 14th year as an educator, has had several positions with Clinton Schools. She’s been the assistant principal at Nance and Southwest, has taught at the middle school, and most recently was child nutrition director for the district. 
Douglas has also been the middle school and high school cheer coach on and off for six years, a role she’ll continue to fill, she said.