New Pelion High Principal Named

The Lexington County School District One Board of Trustees has approved the promotion of R. Clark Cooper to principal of Pelion High School, .

Cooper currently serves as assistant principal at Pelion High and hearing officer for Lexington One.

Additionally, the board announced the hire of Julie DeLong Painter as academic dean for innovation at River Bluff High School and the transfer of John Robert Jackson to the position of assistant principal at Meadow Glen Middle School effective July 1, 2012.

Meadow Glen Middle, set to open in 2012, is being constructed at 510 Ginny Lane. It will have classroom space for 1,000 students and will open in the fall of 2012. Bill Coon will serve as principal.

River Bluff High School, set to open in 2013, is under construction on Corley Mill Road. The district's newest high school will have classroom space for 2,000 students, a competition gymnasium and mini-gymnasium, auditorium and stadium. Luke Clamp will be principal. 

Pelion's Cooper began his teaching career as a science teacher and track and field coach at Pelion High in 2002. He was promoted to administrative assistant in January of 2006 and to assistant principal in July of 2006. 

He is a consultant for the State Department of Education where he serves as a team leader for the High Schools That Work/Making Middle Grades Work initiative. 

Cooper holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology Education from The Citadel and a Master of Arts in Business Education and a Master of Education in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina. He has secondary school administration and superintendent certification. 

He is a member of the Palmetto State Teachers Association and the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, where he serves on the Secondary Principals Executive Committee.  

Julie DeLong Painter, currently English Language Arts Coordinator for District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties, began her teaching career as an English teacher at Dutch Fork High School in 1995. 

Painter moved to Chapin High School as theater arts teacher in 1998; joined the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce in 1999 as education specialist; moved to Spring Valley High School in 2000 as English teacher, then to Lexington One as a theater arts and English teacher at White Knoll High School, and to Dutch Fork High School in 2004 as English and theater arts teacher. In 2010, she was promoted to the position she currently holds at Dutch Fork. 

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Oregon and a Master of Arts in Teaching in English Education and a Master of Education in Education Administration from the University of South Carolina.  

John Robert Jackson, currently assistant principal at Lexington Middle School, began his education career in 2003 as a science teacher, head track coach, and assistant football coach at Lexington Middle School. 

He was promoted in 2006 to the position of administrative assistant and promoted in 2008 to the position of assistant principal. In 2010, he began serving as hearing officer for Lexington One. 

Jackson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Clemson University and a Master of Education in Education Administration from the University of South Carolina. 

Jackson is a member of the South Carolina Association of School Administrators and Lexington One’s Schools of the Future Task Force.