Richland 2 educator named SC’s high school assistant principal of the year

An assistant principal at Ridge View High School has been named the high school assistant principal of the year, according to a statewide education organization.

Brandon Ross was named the 2021 South Carolina Secondary Assistant Principal of the Year by the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, according to a Friday news release.

“Ross is a learning leader,” Ridge View Principal Brenda Mack-Foxworth said in a statement. “He is quick to volunteer for any experience which allows him to learn from an individual or a team of educators. Students easily connect with him because he not only supports what they need, but he extends compassion while also upholding accountability. Parents frequently seek him out for assistance and teachers value his leadership and support.”

Ross has spent eight years teaching in public education. He began in adult education, where he served in both Richland 1’s and Richland 2’s adult education centers. Before becoming the assistant principal at Ridge View, he worked as a career development facilitator at Westwood High School and a school counselor at Spring Valley High, according to Richland 2’s website.

“Being named a finalist showcases to the students I serve, that anything is possible when you follow your pathway to purpose,” Ross said in a statement issued Thursday after he was named a finalist for the award.

Ridge View High School, a school of more than 1,500 students that is located southeast of Blythewood near Lake Carolina and Rice Creek, is in the Richland 2 school district.

At Ridge View, more than half of the students are impoverished, meaning they’re on either food stamps, Medicaid, are homeless, are foster children, or are migrant students, according to the S.C. Department of Education’s annual report card.

“Ross is one of our emerging leaders who puts his heart and soul into every aspect of his work,” Richland 2 Superintendent Baron Davis said in a statement. “In his pursuit of success, he mentors students and other young professionals and endeavors to bring as many of them along with him as possible, particularly Black males. One of his favorite quotes is, ‘You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.’”

Richland 2 had another assistant principal principal who is a finalist for a statewide elementary assistant principal of the year award. That is Tia Jones of Catawba Trail Elementary School.

This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 1:17 PM.