Photo by Jon Anderson
Taylar Posey is the new principal at Riverchase Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama.
The Hoover Board of Education on Tuesday night approved the hiring of a new principal for Riverchase Elementary School.
Superintendent Kevin Maddox recommended the board hire Taylar Posey, who has spent the past year as principal at Brookwood Elementary School in the Tuscaloosa County school system.
Posey is entering her 18th year in education, with 10 years of experience in administration. She began her career teaching first, second or sixth grade for seven years in the Shelby County school system and then spent four years as an assistant principal at Meadow View Elementary in Alabaster and five years as an assistant principal at Thompson Middle School in Alabaster before getting her first principal job at Brookwood a year ago.
Posey said she had a great year at Brookwood but just needed to find a job closer to her home in Calera. This new job will cut her daily commute down from about an hour to about 25 minutes, she said.
“I’m so excited,” Posey said. “I feel like I have a lot of fun and new ideas.”
She met some of the Riverchase Elementary School PTO leaders at Tuesday’s night board meeting and felt very welcomed, she said. “I’m just excited to meet the kids and the remainder of the Riverchase family.”
She is scheduled to start her new job Thursday. The Riverchase Elementary PTO has a reception planned for her Tuesday, and she hopes to meet more of the faculty then. There also is a “popsicle with the principals” event planned for Tuesday night to give students a chance to meet Posey and Riverchase’s new assistant principal, Alli Phelps.
“I do my best to try to build relationships with the faculty, staff and students, and I feel if you have a good culture and climate, the rest of it tends to fall into place,” Posey said.
Posey is replacing Alice Turney, who took a job as principal of the i3 Elementary public charter school in Birmingham. Turney had been working at Riverchase as an administrator for 19 years, including 10 years as principal.
Posey grew up in Montevallo, where her father formerly was a coach at the University of Montevallo. They moved to Montgomery during her middle and high school years, but she returned to Montevallo as a college student and earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in instructional leadership and administration.
Hoover school officials also on Tuesday announced the hiring of several other new assistant principals, including:
Mariah Alfano, who is moving from a teaching job at Trace Crossings Elementary School to become assistant principal at Green Valley Elementary School.
Shelley Bailey, who is moving from her job as a regional instructional coach with the Alabama Department of Education to become the sixth grade assistant principal at Simmons Middle School.
Dedrick Agee, who is moving from an assistant principal job with Alabaster City Schools to become the ninth and 11th grade assistant principal at Spain Park High School.
The Hoover school system now has all of its principal and assistant principal positions filled. See new administrators approved by the school board in May.
Maddox said he believes Hoover’s new chief talent officer, Desiree Smith, and her staff did a masterful job of helping select new leaders for the Hoover school district. He’s excited to welcome this new group of leaders, he said.
“It’s a phenomenal place to learn and grow and work,” Maddox said.
