New principals await students at Trace Crossings, Greystone

Students at two Hoover elementary schools have new principals waiting to greet them when they come back from summer break on Aug. 11.

The Hoover school board in July appointed Quincy Collins as the new principal at Trace Crossings Elementary, replacing Carol Barber, and Stacey Stocks as the new principal at Greystone Elementary, replacing Kathy Wheaton.

Collins came to Trace Crossings from Bumpus Middle School, where he has been assistant principal for the past three years.

He began his education career as an English teacher for Montgomery Public Schools. He worked a year at Georgia Washington Junior High School and then helped open Johnny Carr Junior High School the following year. He moved to the Hoover area in 2010 and worked three years for Northridge High School in Tuscaloosa City Schools before being named an assistant principal at Bumpus.

Collins said he really appreciates the opportunity to serve the Trace Crossings faculty and community as their principal. He already has been busy hiring staff to fill five vacancies and spending time with teachers as they were trained in the state’s new science standards, he said.

He plans to take the first few months on the job to get to know the teachers, students, parents and other school stakeholders and learn more about the school’s successes before trying to implement any potential changes, he said.

Collins said he wants to assess the needs of the school and establish a common vision with the school community and then execute that shared vision to help further the education of students.

He wants to make sure students have global learning opportunities and can connect their academic work with real-world experiences outside of school, he said.

“We are excited about the plans we have for Trace Crossings and the steps forward we plan to make in impacting the lives of young students,” he said.

In particular, Collins said he wants the school to continue to build upon the success of the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) lab at Trace Crossings. The lab has allowed students to be engaged, creative and innovative in their approach to science and technology, he said. This year, teachers will be adding the arts component to the lab, he said.

On Aug. 6, teachers from all over the state who are interested in STEAM labs are invited to come to Trace Crossings for a professional development opportunity. Teachers from Trace and other schools will be sharing practical ways to use STEAM labs in their instruction, Collins said. The STEAM camp was organized by Trace Crossings Assistant Principal Amanda Stone and the STEAM lab facilitator, Dana Joyner, he said.

Collins also wants Trace Crossings to put an early and heavy emphasis on literacy to make sure students are competent in reading comprehension, he said.

Trace is having a Back-to-school Bash on Aug. 7 from 2 to 4 p.m. There will be music, popsicles and fun games and activities for kids, he said.

“I know that parents and students are eager to find out who their new principal is,” he said. Trace’s Meet the Teacher day is Aug. 9.

Greystone Elementary

At Greystone, Stocks already is familiar with the school because she has been there for three years as an assistant principal under Wheaton. Wheaton isn’t officially retiring until Sept. 1, so she is still around, helping Stocks with the transition. Stocks hopes to have a new assistant principal hired by the time school starts.

Stocks began her education career at Bluff Park Elementary, where she taught for eight years before taking 13 years off to be a stay-at-home mom. During that time, she was heavily involved with the Bluff Park Parent Teacher Organization and served as president of the Hoover Parent Teacher Council for a year.

She came back to teach at Bluff Park Elementary for a year before being named assistant principal at Greystone.

Stocks said she doesn’t expect to make many changes this year but will be working with the school’s leadership team to determine the direction for the future. She wants to make sure all students are growing academically, no matter where they start, she said.

One new initiative under way at Greystone is the first phase of development of a STEAM lab, thanks to a $2,000 grant from the Hoover City Schools Foundation, Stocks said. This year, the focus will be on building and engineering, and the next school year will delve into coding and technology, she said.

Lunch price increase

Students across the Hoover district will see a 15-cent increase in school lunch prices this year. Elementary lunches will increase from $2.10 to $2.25, while secondary lunches will increase from $2.35 to $2.50. Faculty and staff lunches will cost $3. The cost of breakfast will remain the same at $1.50.

Erica Techo contributed to this report.