Chapin High’s National Principal of the Year has a new job

Chapin High School’s national award-winning principal is leaving the school at the end of the semester to take a new job in the school district.

Akil Ross, the 2018 National Principal of the Year, will become Lexington-Richland 5’s director of secondary education.

He will replace Reggie Dean, who is retiring at the end of the school year.

“After accomplishing amazing things in my career and at Chapin High School, I have now come to a point in my leadership that calls me to coach and mentor principals,” Ross said in a news release. “The success we have had at Chapin High serves as a model for schools across the state and country, and this position will allow me to coach and mentor instructional leaders.”

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As director of secondary education, Ross will oversee all of the district’s high school principals and work to support the schools’ academic efforts.

In seven years under Ross’s leadership, Chapin High was awarded South Carolina Palmetto’s Finest Award in 2015, and graduation rates reached a high of 96 percent in 2016.

He was recognized last October by the National Association of Secondary School Principals as the best high school principal in the country.

“While this is certainly a day of mixed emotions for me, one thing holds true,” Ross wrote in a letter to Chapin staff upon announcement of his new position in the school district. “I love Chapin High School with all of my heart and the heartbeat we started will never fade.”

This story was originally published February 13, 2018 at 2:08 PM with the headline "Chapin High’s National Principal of the Year has a new job."