Mattson Appointed AP at Covington Middle for 2023-2024 School Year

Mattson Appointed AP at Covington Middle for 2023-2024 School Year
Posted on 05/10/2023

LOW MOOR — The Alleghany Highlands Public Schools Division Board has appointed Lori Mattson as an assistant principal at Covington Middle School. Her appointment is effective July 1, 2023.


Mattson comes to Alleghany Highlands Public Schools from Bedford County Public Schools, where she is presently serving as a health and physical education teacher at Susie G. Gibson Science and Technology Center and Bedford Primary. She teaches health in grades 9-10 and physical education in grades K-1.


Her appointment at Covington Middle School was approved by the School Board during a regular monthly meeting on May 8. Mattson  was recommended for the appointment after a committee made up of administrators and teachers from grades 6-8 interviewed a pool of well-qualified candidates. The current Clifton Middle School assistant principal, Cindy Fox, will become the AHPS supervisor of customized learning on July 1.


“We are excited to welcome Ms. Mattson to the Alleghany Highlands.  The interview panel was very impressed with her as a candidate and feels she will bring great new ideas and leadership to Covington Middle School. Our school board is committed to making the transition to Covington Middle the best experience possible and we feel that Ms. Mattson is an important part of our team,” said Jacob Wright, chair of the AHPS School Board.   


Mattson has previous administrative experience through her work as an athletic director at Liberty High School from 2009-2022. She has also taught in Franklin County Public Schools, and the Twin Valley School District in Eleverson, Pa.


She graduated from Liberty University in Lynchburg in 1995 with a bachelor of science degree in health and physical education. In 2003, she received a master’s degree in educational leadership from Immaculata University in Immaculata, Pa.


Mattson began her career in public education as a health and physical education teacher with the Twin Valley School District in Elverson, Pa. She worked in Pennsylvania from August 1995 to November 2004. She left Pennsylvania to teach physical education in Franklin County Public Schools. Mattson taught in Franklin County until July 2005. In August 2006, she was hired by Bedford County Public Schools to teach 9th grade health and physical education at Liberty High School. In July 2009, she became Liberty’s athletic director and remained in that role until moving on to  the Susie G. Gibson Science and Technology Center and Bedford Primary in August 2022.


“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as one of the assistant principals of Covington Middle School. The incredible opportunities that are ahead for the opening of Covington Middle School is something that I am excited to be a part of. I look forward to meeting and working with this community,” Mattson said.


 

Covington Middle School will serve AHPS students in grades 6-8 in the coming school year, and Mattson will be part of a leadership team that will include Staunton as principal and current Clifton Middle School Principal Marty Wood as an assistant principal. Clifton Middle School will close at the end of the current school year, and its student base will be moved to Covington Middle School in the fall. Grades 6-7 in Jeter-Watson Elementary School will also be moved to Covington Middle School, and Covington City eighth graders will also attend Covington Middle School in the former Covington High School building. Alleghany High School will serve as the joint high school and house grades 9-12.


AHPS leaders Kim Halterman and Melinda Snead-Johnson said they are excited to see Mattson join a strong leadership team that will help guide Covington Middle School through the transition. Although Halterman worked for Bedford County Public Schools prior to coming to Alleghany County in 2021, she says she did not know Mattson directly.     


“During the time we both worked in Bedford, I always heard wonderful things about Ms. Mattson’s service — and specifically her dedication to the children of her school community,” Halterman said. 


“We are excited by Ms. Mattson’s sincere desire to learn about the Alleghany Highlands and assist us in the pivotal year ahead,” Snead-Johnson said.


The Alleghany Highlands Public Schools Division was created on July 1,2022, when Alleghany County Public Schools, Covington City Public Schools, and Jackson River Technical Center merged. AHPS serves approximately 2,700 students, and it is jointly funded by Alleghany County and the City of Covington.


AHPS news and events are regularly posted on Facebook at AHPublicSchools, and the division website, www.ahps.k12.va.us.

###  




Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2024 SchoolMessenger Corporation. All rights reserved.