When Columbia High School opens for the 2021-2022 school year next month, there will be a new principal guiding the school in its quest to be the best high school Mississippi has to offer.
The Columbia School District tabbed L.V. McNeal to be the next principal following Braxton Stowe, who was the principal for three years before taking on the same position in Ocean Springs.
McNeal described himself as a positive person who is a good listener. He said he can be quiet sometimes, but that’s usually because he’s listening and learning, which plays into his best asset.
“My greatest strength professionally is probably relationship building. I’m able to build positive relationships with teachers, students and families,” he said.
McNeal started out as a middle school teacher in Greene County, which is where he’s from in Leakesville, and he stayed there for three years. Then he got married to his wife, Christie, who got a job in Tupelo, prompting McNeal to teach elementary school there for five years. He then moved up to be an assistant principal at a sixth-grade school in Tupelo for two years before transitioning to being an assistant principal at Tupelo High School, where he overlapped with Columbia Superintendent Jason Harris, for the past five years.
Although Columbia will be his first principal gig, McNeal said he feels like he’s prepared to take on the lead role after being an assistant principal at the largest school in the state.
“It’s going to be different being the principal versus being the assistant — I know it will be. It’s certainly going to have its challenges, but it will be rewarding at the same time,” he explained. “Being a principal, when things go well, you’ll get some praise. When things go poorly, you’ll get the blame for sure whether it’s your fault or not. That’s something to keep in mind, but at the same time you got to be willing to take chances. I want to be willing to take chances and move forward, but I’m not going to be the type of person who comes in here and want to change everything before I see what’s going on. I want to have some time to learn about the place, then we’ll move forward together.”
Harris said that with McNeal being a south Mississippi person with family in the region, he not only understands the area but truly wants to live in it and help it thrive.
“He’s not taking a position just to take a position, he’s taking a position because he desires to be a great head principal in a community that he respects,” he said. “I had the privilege to work with him when I was principal of Tupelo High School for one year, and I saw and know his work ethic, what he does and how he takes that to influence children to make their lives better. When you take and put all that together, you have an outstanding leader who can lead others, lead his school and set an example for others as well.”
Harris added that while McNeal isn’t the type of person who is going to talk someone’s ear off, when he does speak up, he’s someone everyone is going to pay attention to.
“He’s very much about the business of school and doing what’s right for students. That’s a No. 1 factor for me,” Harris said. “We’re here and come to work every day for the students of the Columbia School District.”
One of McNeal’s primary focuses will be promoting a safe environment where students and teachers want to be.
“I want to make this a safe place where students want to come here and learn,” he said. “I want them to be able to enjoy high school and have a good experience.”
As that’s taking place, McNeal said he wants to make sure the teachers and students have all the tools they need to succeed so that the teachers can get the most out of the students and the students can get the most out of the school. To be able to provide teachers with the tools they need, McNeal said it’s important to listen to his team to find out exactly what the essentials are rather than making unilateral decisions.
Another priority for McNeal would be helping the city school earn an “A” rating.
“The community expects and deserves that. We want to have fun and have the kids enjoy school, but we want to be the best in academics, athletics, everything,” McNeal said. “That’s our next step, having that ‘A’ rating.”
After getting his associate’s degree at Jones College, McNeal got his bachelor’s, master’s and specialist’s degrees from Ole Miss. McNeal and Christie have two children, Vaughn, 6, and Annie, 4.
