DCHS Principals Announcement

Dayton Christian School

July 2017

Dayton Christian School is pleased to announce that we have finalized the plans for the new principal structure of the school. As was previously announced, Rich Garrett will be the Elementary Principal for grades pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. For grades 7-12, James Holliday will serve as Principal and Katie Reynolds will service as Assistant Principal and Director of Guidance.

As Head of School, I am so pleased and thankful that we have talented and experienced leaders who are truly eager to take DC to a new level academically! Allow me to introduce your new junior high and high school academic leadership team.

James Holliday, a DC alumnus ('06), graduated from Huntington University and earned his Master's degree in Educational Leadership from the American College of Education. Last year he taught Bible and served as DCHS Assistant Principal under the leadership of Dr. David Rough. Previous to that, he taught Language Arts, Bible and history at Dayton Christian Middle School for five years. James served as the men's varsity soccer coach for the past three years, but he will transition from head soccer coach to assistant head coach this year to create a smooth succession plan for the team and so that he can concentrate on his new role as principal.

"I am deeply humbled by the opportunity I have been given to serve my current faculty members, partnering families, students, and supporters. There have been many mentors and leaders that have blessed me and my family through Dayton Christian, and my goal and focus will be to pay it forward. Attending Dayton Christian from first grade through graduation, teaching fifth grade, coaching the men's soccer team, and serving as an assistant principal have helped give me a foundation in Christ through Biblical accountability in God's Word. I look to help the junior high and high school at Dayton Christian reach new heights academically, mentally, and spiritually!"

Katie Reynolds graduated from Washington and Lee University with a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry. She holds a Master's of Education degree in Education Technology and Instructional Design Technologies from the University of Virginia. In addition, Katie earned an Educational Specialist degree in Education Leadership from Liberty University this spring and has Christian School Administration Masters Level Training from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. For the past two years, Katie has served as the DCHS Director of Guidance. She served as the president of Timbrook Technology, a firm that specializes in instructional design and training development in education and technology, from 2010-2015 and has seven years of teaching experience in chemistry, biology, and general science.

"I am very thankful for God's calling in my life to come to Dayton Christian, and I look forward to continuing to serve our DC families in a new capacity. I was first introduced to Dayton Christian School through my sister-in-law who graduated in 1990, and later through case studies that featured Dayton Christian in my administrative studies. Now, as a member of the DC family myself, I have a passion to provide students with the best education possible with strong biblical integration and spiritual development. I desire to see Dayton Christian become a beacon of light in the Dayton area for education, community contribution, and spiritual development. I pray that the parents, students, faculty, staff, and Board members will be united together as a family towards this end."

Please be in prayer for all three principals as they step into new or expanded roles that God would provide the wisdom and energy for their new responsibilities.

Blessings,

Dr. John Gredy

DCS Head of School

2017-2018

Why Change the Principal Structure Anyway?

Simply said, we want to be shifting more of our resources to the classroom. We are working toward allowing for smaller class sizes and a renewed emphasis on the classroom learning environment. To achieve this, we needed to look at right-sizing our administrative model. The 2016-2017 school year was one of many changes for Dayton Christian School, the most obvious one being that we transitioned from being a school system to acting as an independent Christian school. When this occurred, there were no administrative cuts to our program. In addition, our enrollment numbers have demonstrated the need to "right-size" the administrative model that we have been utilizing for the past decade. Ten years ago, we had over a thousand students in the building. This year that number was 740. (By the way, these enrollment numbers reflect a national trend that we are actively addressing.) For all of the reasons outlined above, the Board of Trustees and the Administrative Team made the decision to change the administrative structure from three principals (one on each floor) to two principals, one for students in pre-kindergarten to sixth grade and another for grades 7-12.

Dayton Christian School

9391 Washington Church Road

Miamisburg, OH 45342

(937) 291-7201