This Columbus principal is retiring, and here’s who is likely to take her place
A Muscogee County School District principal has retired, and the successor has been recommended.
Renee Tharp is leaving Dawson Elementary School, and the new principal is likely to be Cheryl Hampel, Reese Road Leadership Academy assistant principal. The school board is scheduled to vote Monday on Hampel, which is Superintendent David Lewis’ choice to fill the vacancy.
Tharp was Dawson’s principal for six years. Her 30-year career in MCSD also includes teaching at Double Churches Elementary School from 1990 to 2008 and serving as assistant principal of Fox Elementary School from 2008-13.
Hampel has been an educator for 19 years, all with MCSD. She started in January 2000 as a teacher at Eastway Elementary School, now Lonnie Jackson Academy. She was an academic coach in all content areas at St. Marys Road Magnet Academy from 2008-14 and an academic coach in math and science for the district’s east region from 2014-16.
She became an administrator in 2016 and was the academic dean for one year at Dawson before moving to Reese Road as assistant principal in 2017.
Hampel earned all of her higher-education degrees at local institutions:
- Educational leadership certificate from Columbus State University in 2014
- Specialist’s degree in early childhood education from Troy University-Phenix City in 2007
- Master’s degree in middle grades education from CSU in 2001
- Bachelor’s degree in medical technology from Columbus College, now CSU, in 1993
This story was originally published June 18, 2019 at 12:41 PM.
