There will be a new leader walking the halls of Vernon High School when the 2023-24 school year gets underway in August, as Cynthia Jackson was recently named VHS Principal. Jackson replaces Glen Hutchins, who served as principal for two years, after serving as assistant principal for five.
Hutchins resigned earlier this year after accepting a principal position with Newcastle ISD.
“Glen Hutchins will surely be missed here, yet we wish him well on his next endeavor,” Vernon ISD Supt. Dr. Kermit Ward said. “Vernon High School will now look forward to welcoming and working with Mrs. Jackson next year. Her strengths are setting high academic expectations, building a cohesive culture amongst both staff and students, and evaluating effective classroom instruction. I fully expect VHS to thrive under her leadership.”
Jackson comes to Vernon from Clarksville, where she is currently the principal at the Clarksville Middle High School, a position she has held for 1 year. This will be her third stop as an administrator. After being in the classroom for 18 years, she served as an assistant principal with Paris ISD for its fifth and sixth grade campus for five years before taking the principal job at Clarksville.
“I am so excited to begin my journey with Vernon ISD. It took me 24 years to find my home in the high school setting,” Jackson said. “Now that I have, I love everything about high school and cannot wait to make VHS my home. I am looking forward to getting to Vernon where I can begin building relationships with the students, staff, and community.
“I am an educator first whose top priority is student achievement while maintaining high expectations for students and staff. I want nothing but the best for my campus and district, and work hard to ensure they have the best. I strive to make school a safe and welcoming place for all members of the community. Moving the campus forward in academic excellence and improving CCMR are two of my top priorities,” she added.
A graduate of Texas A&M University-Commerce, Jackson has taught various grades and content areas in a variety of places during her 24-year career in education. Most of her time teaching has been in the area of English, Language Arts, Reading (ELAR). She has a reading specialist certificate, and in 2016 Jackson earned her master’s degree in Special Education from TAMU-C.
She was a Special Education teacher for 12 years and also has her diagnostician certificate. In 2018, Jackson earned a master’s in educational leadership and is currently in a doctoral program.
Jackson and her husband, Jason, who is a stationary engineer with Campbell Soup in Paris, Texas, have three children, Rachel, 26; Emily, 22; and Brayden, 19. She also has two granddaughters, Ellisyn, 4, and Laylin, 2. A pet lover, Jackson’s family also includes a Boxer, named Leonard, a Standard Poodle, named Winston, an Aussie Doodle, named Hazel Mae, and a cat named Oscar. Her hobbies include shopping, traveling, reading, and anything to do with water. While school shouldn’t be considered a hobby, it might as well be for Jackson.
“I just love school in general,” she said. “I look forward to school each day. Work never seems like work when you love education.”