The Heard County Board of Education has selected Kim Tisdale to become the new principal at Heard County Elementary School. The school board approved Tisdale at their annual retreat held on February 5. “We put Kim’s name before the board because she has proven herself again and again to be an invaluable school leader for our system,” stated Superintendent Rodney Kay. “Couple that with her experience as an elementary educator, and you can see why she was our final choice.”
Heard County Elementary School (HCES) has a student population of almost 650 students in PreK through fifth grade and has more than fifty certified faculty members. Additionally, the school houses Head Start classrooms that includes students from zero to three years old. The position of school principal at HCES opened up when current principal Paul Mixon announced at the beginning of the school year that this would be his last year in the position.
“I am truly honored to be chosen to lead such a wonderful faculty and staff,” claims Tisdale. “I believe that as we continue to focus on building a nurturing and energetic culture for our students, that the quality of education our students will receive will continue to grow. In the end we want all of our students to fall in love with school and with learning.”
One of the elements that Tisdale hopes to focus on heading into the new year is bringing parents and families back into the school. “Unfortunately, this year we had to eliminate so many of our family-oriented events that helped us build such close ties with our school community,” said Tisdale. “Once this pandemic is behind us, we hope to bring back Fall Festival, reading nights, Fine Arts night, classroom parties, and perhaps some new family participation events.”
Tisdale has served the past five years as an assistant principal at HCES, while serving the two years before that as an assistant principal at Margaret Winn-Holt Elementary School in Gwinnett County. Prior to becoming an administrator, Tisdale taught second, third, and fifth grade in Gwinnett County. Tisdale has also served as an ESOL and EIP teacher. Tisdale has a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from University of West Georgia and a master’s degree in Instructional Technology from Walden University. Additionally, Tisdale gained a specialist degree in Education Leadership from the University of Georgia.