Collierville High School names new principal
Collierville Schools announced May 23 that Roger L. Jones III will serve as Collierville High School’s new principal.
Collierville High’s previous principal, Chip Blanchard, accepted a job as head of school at Rossville Christian Academy in Fayette County.
Jones started his teaching career in 2002 at Schilling Farms Middle School as a math and honors algebra teacher, working his way up to principal of Collierville Middle School. Last year, while at Collierville Middle, he was voted Principal of the Year for Collierville Schools.
Jones said when he was younger he would admire teachers’ work and think to himself, “If I ever became a teacher, I would do this.”
Jones said he is grateful for the new position at the high school, but leaving Collierville Middle has been “kind of a little emotional.”
“The reason being is because I am leaving what has been my family now, for the past five years,” he said.
Jones said he first went to Collierville Middle as the assistant principal, then went to work for Arlington High School and eventually came
back as principal at the middle school.
Now, as Jones moves to Collierville High, he is excited to see some familiar faces.
“I feel so fortunate,” Jones said. “I’m so happy to have this opportunity to be able to work with teachers that also worked for me here at CMS, teachers that I worked with at Schilling — I’ll be reunited with a lot of them, and a lot of my students too.”
Jones said he plans to better prepare students for their futures past high school.
“Whether it’s higher learning or whether they’re going into the work force, we prepare them and equip them with some type of certification,” he said.
Jones said he aims to have students finish their high school career and plan their post-high school lives within their four years.
“We have got to make sure that we’re preparing students when they leave 12th grade,” Jones said. “[We need to make sure] that this dude feels confident to say, ‘I am going here and I know exactly where my path is going to lead me.’”
At Collierville Middle, Anita Swindle will serve as interim principal for the 2019-20 school year. She has served as assistant principal at the middle school since 2014.