Photo courtesy of Hoover City Schools
Kristi Sayers is the new principal of Hoover High School, starting July 9, 2025.
The Hoover school board on Tuesday night approved the hiring of a new principal for Hoover High School.
The board approved Superintendent Kevin Maddox’s recommendation to hire Kristi Sayers to replace Jennifer Hogan, who retired July 1 after two years as principal to help her parents with health issues.
Sayers has more than 32 years of experience in education, including 14 years as a teacher in Hoover City Schools. She spent seven years as principal at Oak Mountain High School before retiring in October 2021. She was named High School Principal of the Year for State Board of Education District 5 by the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools in 2017.
Since retiring, Sayers has been working with FranklinCovey Education, supporting leadership development in more than 40 schools across Alabama. Sayers said as she has gone into schools to work with principals, she realized she really missed being a part of a school.
“There’s quite nothing like being in the schools, the hustle and the bustle,” Sayers said. “I just missed it. … I thought about it every day.”
“I’m excited to return to a district and community that mean so much to me,” she said. “Hoover High School has a proud tradition, and I look forward to supporting the students, staff and families as we work together to continue that legacy of excellence.”
After her first seven years as a teacher, Sayers was hired to teach English at Berry Middle School from 1995 to 2002. She then taught at Spain Park High School from 2002 to 2009 before moving to Oak Mountain High School as a teacher.
She filled in an assistant principal at Oak Mountain and then was hired as a full-time assistant principal at Pelham High School before moving into a central office role for Shelby County in 2012. She served as a curriculum specialist and then a professional development supervisor until she was named principal at Oak Mountain in 2014.
Sayers ran for election for Shelby County school superintendent in 2018 and lost to Lewis Brooks by less than 400 votes in a race with almost 25,000 votes cast. She retired three years later.
Sayers holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Alabama, a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Montevallo, and both an educational specialist degree and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Sayers back to Hoover,” Superintendent Kevin Maddox said. “She brings a depth of knowledge in education, a passion for student growth and a strong leadership presence. Her vision and experience will be an incredible asset to the Hoover High School community.”
Sayers is taking the helm of the largest high school in Alabama. Hoover High has more than 2,800 students, which is significantly larger than Oak Mountain when she left there, but both schools are 7A schools.
“Definitely more students, more faculty and staff, more opportunities for success,” she said.
Sayers begins her new job Wednesday, July 9.
“It is an honor to lead Hoover High School,” she told the school board Tuesday night. “I want you to know that it is not lost on me what a privilege it is to join the Buc nation, and I’m going to daily do my very best to lead and to instill in others and to model those three core principles of Hoover High School — the respect, the responsibility and the integrity. That is my job. That is something I am passionate about.”
Her previous 14 years in Hoover City Schools really did mold her into the kind of educator she is today, she said.
“That’s because I was surrounded by excellence every day,” Sayers said. “It is my goal to become a long-lasting member of the Buc nation, and I am thrilled to start that journey tomorrow at 7 o’clock a.m. and do my very best every day.”
She ended her speech with a “Go Bucs.”
