FORTVILLE — A 15-year member of Mt. Vernon Schools’ faculty will lead the corporation’s high school.
Casey Dodd will start as principal on July 1, according to a news release.
Dodd has been the principal at Mt. Comfort Elementary School for the past two school years. He’s also been Mt. Vernon’s Title I coordinator for the past year, heading up the corporation’s participation in a federal program that distributes funds to schools with students from low-income families.
During Dodd’s first year as principal at Mt. Comfort Elementary School, the school’s letter grade from the Indiana Department of Education rose from a C to a B. The school corporation’s news release credits the data tracking systems and teacher performance analyses that Dodd led with contributing to the increase. The school’s 97 percent attendance rates were maintained during Dodd’s time there as well.
Jack Parker, Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation superintendent, said in the release that Dodd “led his staff with a very positive and team-oriented culture” in his most recent role.
“He has been an outstanding principal and provided an accountable, productive environment at Mt. Comfort Elementary School where students have thrived,” Parker said. “We are excited for his leadership to expand Mt. Vernon High School’s opportunities and continue their success.”
Dodd served as assistant principal at Mt. Vernon Middle School during the 2016-17 school year, when the school’s IDOE letter grade also rose from a C to a B. That year he also created and led professional development sessions on topics like classroom management, educational technology integration and the effective use of student data.
The IDOE rated Dodd as a highly-effective English teacher at Mt. Vernon High School from 2011 through 2016. While teaching at the high school, he also helped develop curriculum guides for English courses, mentored new teachers and coached varsity girls soccer.
Dodd began his career teaching eighth grade language arts at Mt. Vernon Middle School from 2004 to 2011. He eventually became department head and instructional team leader.
“During my 15 years at Mt. Vernon, I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with some amazing people at all grade levels within the corporation,” Dodd said in the release. “I have had wonderful experiences at each building and in each role in which I have served.”
He has experienced the school corporation’s educational program “from start to finish,” he added.
“While I have loved everything about my experience at Mt. Comfort Elementary and Mt. Vernon Middle School, I look forward to returning to Mt. Vernon High School to serve the students, families, staff and community,” he said.
Dodd replaces Greg Roach, who accepted another position in a different school district. Under Roach, the high school’s ISTEP pass rates increased more than 21 percent since 2015 and the IDOE gave the school an A letter grade six of the past seven years.
The Mt. Comfort Elementary School principal opening will be posted at mvcsc.k12.in.us/employment.
