By Kathy Chaffin
kchaffin@salisburypost.com
Erwin Middle and Hanford Dole Elementary schools have new principals.
The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education voted unanimously at its work session Monday afternoon to hire Kristi L. Dye-Rhone as the principal at Erwin and Shanda Hughes McFarlin as the Hanford Dole principal.
Dye-Rhone was recommended by Superintendent Dr. Judy Grissom from nine candidates interviewed to replace Ray Whitaker as the principal at Erwin. Whitaker announced his resignation last month due to personal reasons.
A resident of High Point, Dye-Rhone has been the assistant principal at North Rowan Middle School since 2006. She has worked to improve the climate at North Middle by collaborating with various community-based agencies to link supportive services for parents and students and has designed and collaborated opportunities and supervised curriculum strategies to improve student growth while incorporating 21st Century higher order thinking skills.
Dye-Rhone’s responsibilities at North also included ensuring effective instructional academic success while maintaining a safe and orderly school. Before going to work at North, she was an eighth-grade language arts teacher in the Guilford County Schools for four years and a CIS volunteer/tutor at Ferndale Middle School in High Point for two years before that.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in middle grades education from High Point University in 2002 and a master’s in educational leadership from High Point University in 2007. Dye-Rhone has been a Navy Leadership instructor/PREVENT facilitator since 1999.
Grissom recommended McFarlin from 13 candidates interviewed to replace James Griffin as principal at Hanford Dole. Though Griffin also announced his resignation last month due to personal reasons, he remained at the school through the end of November.
McFarlin has 20 years experience in the Burke County Public School System, 12 of them as principal. She is presently at Hillcrest Elementary School, having started in the position this year, and worked for three years before that as the first principal of the then-new Patton High School.
Previously, McFarlin served as principal of Liberty Middle School for two years and for five years before that, as principal of Rutherford College Elementary School.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in middle grade education from Appalachian State University in 1989; an Add on certification in academically gifted education from Lenoir Rhyne University in 1991; a master’s in middle grade education from Appalachian in 1993; an Ed S. curriculum and instruction from Appalachian in 1996 and N.C. Principal Certification from Appalachian in 1997.
McFarlin received the Hickory Daily Record’s Women’s Difference Maker Award in 2008.
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249.