National Principals Month Spotlight: Mark Smith of ACTIVE Academies!

October is National Principals Month!  Our Principals are Elevating the Excellence every day in our schools by providing leadership and inspiration.  We’re recognizing one of these amazing leaders each day.  Please join us in thanking them for all they do each day for our students and families, teachers and staff, and communities! #CCSDElevateTheExcellence  #ThankAPrincipal

ACTIVE Academies Principal Mark Smith

Why did you choose to become a Principal?

I chose to become a Principal because of the impact my elementary and high school Principal had on me personally. Mr. Lazenby supported me, inspired me, and showed me that I mattered.  I wanted to have the same impact on others that he had on me.

What inspires you in your work as a Principal?

I am blessed to work with some of the most caring individuals at the ACTIVE Academies campus.  Each academy brings unique challenges, and our staff inspires me as they rise to those challenges in an alternative educational environment across the board.  Our students also inspire me as they continue to embrace the opportunity in an alternative educational environment, from tackling virtual learning at i-Grad Virtual Academy, to being part of different community work locations in the Transition Academy, to staying on track academically at ACE Academy, to taking classes away from their home school for all our C3 Academy students; all of our students are embracing new educational environments throughout our campus.

How are you Elevating the Excellence in your school?

The ACTIVE Academies campus is comprised of four unique individual educational opportunities for students.  Each academy comes with its own opportunities to elevate the excellence in all that is done and challenges our educators daily.  Administration strives to elevate the excellence in making sure we continue to let the Cherokee County community know about all the great things occurring on campus and to embrace these unique educational opportunities.  This year, we are continuing to elevate the excellence with additional personized check-in with students across the campus both for our in-person and online students.  It is exciting to provide non-traditional school experiences to students both in face-to-face and virtual formats.  As a body of educators across the campus, we continue to strive to meet the needs of our students and remind them that they matter.