Barnes named Sparta School principal

Chris Barnes, who currently serves as an assistant principal at Western Guilford High School, recently accepted the position of principal at Sparta School. Barnes will officially fill the capacity in mid-June, following the retirement of Susan Murphy. Murphy was named the school's principal in 2001, following the retirement of John Brady.

A native of New England, Barnes lived the better part of his childhood in New Hampshire and Conneticut. Barnes graduated from Air Force ROTC at St. Michael's College in Vermont, where he also received a bachelor's degree in English. After graduation, Barnes worked for 11 years at Eckerd Youth Alternatives Inc., a year-round educational facility with programs in several states, including one in neighboring Surry County that "takes young men and women ages 10 to 17 and has them interact, work and learn in small group settings that simulate small classrooms or families," according to Barnes.

Positions he held while there included counselor, supervisor, program director and facility director. In further discussion of the year- around camp, Barnes commented that the youth live outside in tents they build themselves, take extended backpacking and canoeing trips and learn ways to control anger and make responsible choices. Barnes later received a North Carolina Principal Fellowship and attained a master's in school administration from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. After a year of graduate school, Barnes worked as a principal intern during a fall semester at Eastern Guilford School and followed it by working during the spring semester at Bessemer Elementary and Page High School. For the last two years, Barnes has been working at Western Guilford High School.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back