Blue Ridge School Principal Kheri Cowan was named Jackson County’s Principal of the Year during a surprise announcement last week. In JCPS, The Principal of the Year award is selected by a vote of their peers. Cowan has been with JCPS for six years, with four of those years as principal. All six of her years have been at Blue Ridge School. 

Jackson County Schools will continue to increase its capacity for early childhood education with the opening of an infant/ toddler classroom at Scott Creek School this fall. 

The Jackson County Board of Education has signed a resolution urging the North Carolina General Assembly to prioritize public education over funding an expansion to the private school voucher system. 

Jackson County Public Schools announced that current assistant principal Joey Robinson has been named the new principal at Smoky Mountain High School. Robinson will step into his new role on July 1. 

To the Editor:

I am an emeritus faculty member in the College of Education and Allied Professions at Western Carolina University. I am concerned about the possible ending of the cooperative agreement between WCU and the Jackson County Public Schools regarding the Catamount School.

Jackson County Schools will install over 100 new security cameras throughout the school system after it received over a quarter of a million dollars from the Center for Safer Schools’ Safety Grant Program.