Tony Hall, a former Alleghany High School assistant principal, recently was named assistant superintendent.

Hall is assistant superintendent

With 20 years in the field of education under his belt, Tony Hall returned to Alleghany to serve as the assistant superintendent. He worked with the school system for a year several years ago, when he served as the assistant principal of Alleghany High School.

Hall returned to Alleghany by way of a principalship at East Surry High School. Other positions he held through the years include serving as a middle school teacher and high school coach in Galax, Va., as an assistant coach for six years, a part-time teacher at a private school in Wilmington. In 2000, Hall began working as an assistant principal at an elementary school. He has also worked at the Boys Home in Durham for two years, took part in the principal fellows program and was a full-time graduate student for two years.

Of his first stint in Alleghany, Hall said he began the job in short order following an interview. After a year, his wife Terri's contract job came to an end and the family opted to move to the Winston-Salem area. At the time, Hall interviewed at East Surry High and was named the school's principal, a position he held for six-and-a-half years.

When asked about the assistant superintendent position opening here in Alleghany, he noted he learned of it "quite by accident," and began pondering if he should apply for the position. "I've been a high school principal for over six years…(been) very successful at East Surry. In fact, the year before last…we were (a) top 15 school in the state. I've done quite a bit and if you know anything about the job of a high school principal it's a lot of hours and a lot of unpredictability in your schedule… I was looking for something…that would allow me to share some things I've learned as a principal and also to develop some new skills myself."

Field of Education

"I was first in my family to graduate high school…," said Hall. "I never planned to be an educator, in fact I was planning to go to law school. During summers when I was in college, I worked (for) the recreation department in Galax. Just being around kids through coaching and refereeing, I felt like I could connect with kids and quite honestly felt real comfortable with them. I had been in the Army and ended up in the National Guard, so I had money from the GI bill. I completed my undergraduate course work and decided that I would go ahead and get a teacher's certificate, give myself that option. So I went back for a year and did that through my student teaching, really fell in love with the job, decided this was what I was going to do."

A former Army and Army National Guard member, Hall attended Kings College in Tennessee for a couple of years, Virginia Tech and finished his schooling where he got his teaching licensure from Radford University in Radford, Va.

Job and Goals

As assistant superintendent, Hall focuses on personnel issues. As such, "It has a lot to do with hiring and making sure folks have their license current, helping provide opportunities for them to do that through workshops, (and) course work…making sure we have the right people in the right places according to their license."

Hall is also involved with conducting teacher evaluations and curriculum for sixth through 12th grades.

Hall commented, "If I could spend all day on one thing, it would be curriculum. Just dealing with kids teaching and learning and dealing with teachers and that's what I like."

Turning to goals for his new position, Hall commented, "My first goal is to support Dr. Cox whenever he needs it. My job is to make him look good as much as I can. Beyond that, I'm here to support the principals. Having coming from a principalship recently, I know how critical that is and in my opinion, that's what our office should be about…even if it makes our job harder that's what we ought to be doing."

Of his work philosophy for educators, Hall stated, "What is best for kids is almost always