A familiar face will head Grayson County High School this fall as current Assistant Principal Josh Baldwin takes the helm as principal.
In his 10 years at GCHS, Baldwin has served in an administrative role for the past five. He previously taught social studies, and also took on coaching roles in baseball, soccer. He even served a stint with the academic team.
Combined with a 20-year active duty Army and Kentucky National Guard career, he is both prepared and poised for his new leadership role.
Building on the school’s successes, Baldwin is excited about the future of GCHS, its students and staff. His top three goals coming in are to improve the graduation rate by 10 percent, and achieve 100 percent college or career readiness for all graduates. He’s also looking to improve daily attendance through a new privilege program.
A mentorship initiative he’s been developing is one of the ideas he’s most excited about, connecting teachers and staff with every student to “talk about things that are important to them – what they want to do, who they are, what their skills are, what their strengths are,” he said.
He noted how such a program would dovetail with college and career readiness, providing students extra support during their high school careers.
Baldwin’s leadership style and philosophy can best be summed up in two words, servant leadership.
“My entire focus will be on our teachers, staff members and students. This is their journey and I will work to facilitate a clear path,” Baldwin said.
His vision of college and career ready graduates is built on a thriving school community with shared accountability for creating a positive, supportive, nurturing, and respectful learning environment. That includes providing the educational and work-based learning opportunities each individual student requires to be successful. It also requires that all GCHS students develop crucial 21st century learning and soft skills not only in the classroom, but through technology, and social and community-based experiences.
Baldwin’s vision and leadership were two qualities that stood out to GCHS health science teacher and site-based member, Donna Priest. She was particularly impressed with “his vision for our school, new ideas to increase student achievement and his plan to support the staff,” calling him “an amazing role model for our students as well as our teachers.”
Tony Embry, a GCHS business teacher, who also served on the site-based hiring committee, noted Baldwin’s communication skills with both students and staff over the six years they have worked together.
By Grayson County Schools
