From Dawn Kujawa- Lexington 2 schools communications director

Four Lexington Two schools will have new principals for the 2018-19 academic year.

At its board meeting Tuesday, the Lexington Two Board of Trustees approved the following appointments, based on the recommendation of Superintendent Dr. William James:

David Damm will become principal at Airport High School. Damm, who most recently served as interim principal at Gilbert High School in Lexington 1, will succeed Frank Jovanelly, interim principal at Airport.

Andrew Drozdak will become principal at Cayce Elementary. Drozdak currently serves as assistant principal at Chapin Intermediate School in Lexington-Richland 5. He succeeds Dr. Cecil McClary, a retired administrator who came to the district to open the new Cayce Elementary in fall 2017.

Stephanie Hucks will become principal at Busbee Creative Arts Academy. Hucks, who currently serves as assistant principal at Busbee, succeeds Dixon Brooks, who will move to the District Education Center as interim director of secondary.

Jim LeBlanc will become principal at Saluda River Academy for the Arts. LeBlanc, who currently serves as assistant principal at Springdale Elementary, succeeds Tonya Fryer, who is retiring from the district for an opportunity in the private sector.

Damm comes to Lexington Two after interim principal roles in spring 2016 at Bookman Road Elementary in Richland 2 and more recently in spring 2017 at Gilbert High. His first job in education was in 1998 as coordinator of operations for the Fort Mill School District (York 4), where he later served as assistant principal and then principal at Fort Mill High School. He later worked in Clover School District (York 2) as assistant superintendent for secondary, then assistant superintendent for K-12 instruction; principal at Edisto High School (Orangeburg Consolidated School District 4); and education associate with the SC Department of Education’s Office of School Leadership.

Damm, who served 20 years as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, has a bachelor’s degree in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s of education in administrative and policy studies from the University of Pittsburgh.

Drozdak began his education career in August 2007 in Lexington-Richland 5, first as a social studies teacher at Dutch Fork Middle and then at Chapin Middle. He moved in 2014 to Carolina Springs Middle in Lexington 1 as an assistant administrator before returning the following year to Lexington-Richland 5 as assistant principal at Chapin Intermediate School. His leadership responsibilities there include managing curriculum and instruction for fifth and sixth grades, as well as supervising the CIS staff.

Drozdak has a bachelor’s degree in history, with a minor in secondary education, as well as a master’s of education in secondary education from the University of South Carolina; and a master’s of science in educational leadership from Arkansas State University.

Hucks began her education career in 1998 as a math teacher at Northeast Middle School in North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg, moving a year later to Lexington Two and Busbee Middle — today Busbee Creative Arts Academy. She has been at Busbee ever since, serving in various teaching and leadership roles before becoming assistant principal. She was Teacher of the Year in 2004 and 2009.

Hucks received a bachelor’s of science in elementary education from Winthrop University; a master’s in education from Southern Wesleyan University; and her educational administration degree from the University of South Carolina. She is certified as a secondary principal, middle level mathematics teacher, gifted and talented endorsed, and a National Board Certified teacher in early adolescent math.

LeBlanc came by his love of the arts at a young age, graduating from the prestigious South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities with a concentration in jazz guitar. He started his education career teaching third and fourth grades at Horrell HIll Elementary in Richland 1. After five years as a teacher, LeBlanc joined Lexington Two in 2015 as assistant principal at Claude A. Taylor Elementary. A year later, he joined Springdale Elementary as assistant principal.

LeBlanc has a bachelor’s in elementary education, and a master’s in education administration from the University of South Carolina.

The first day of classes for the 2018-19 school year is August 20.