Little eager to help push Lexington 1 students forward

Overseeing Lexington 1 schools offers a chance to develop instruction requiring “different skills than in the past,” new Superintendent Greg Little said Friday.

Little said he is coming in with no plan for immediate change, instead wanting to develop innovation in collaboration with teachers and families.

“I expect to do twice as much listening as I do talking,” he said.

A focus on learning foreign languages is vital because “it opens doors” in making students ready for jobs needing a broader outlook, he said.

Little, 40, said he has been to the Midlands “only passing through” but is planning a long stay overseeing 30 schools with more than 25,000 students.

“I wasn’t looking just for a job,” he said. “I was looking for a home.”

His two daughters will attend the schools he will oversee.

Little is moving from a role overseeing Mount Airy, N.C. schools with 1,600 students fro four years, but says his 14 years’ experience in classrooms in the Raleigh-Durham area is comparable to those in steadily growing Lexington 1.

His start date in Lexington 1 is undetermined.

He was the unanimous choice of School Board members Thursday from among three finalists.

Little will succeed retiring Superintendent Karen Woodward, who held the post nearly 16 years. He will be paid $199,000 a year initially.