LOW MOOR — The Alleghany Highlands Public Schools Division Board has approved the appointments of two assistant principals at Alleghany High School.
Jennifer Taylor and Timothy Cochran were appointed by the school board on Monday, June 12. The appointments are effective July 1.
Taylor, a former Alleghany County Public Schools employee, comes to AHPS from Bath County Public Schools, where she has served as principal at Valley Elementary School, and as Division Title I coordinator. Cochran, who has six years of administrative experience, has most recently served as an assistant principal for the Shenandoah Valley Center for Advanced Learning in Fishersville.
The appointments of Taylor and Cochran give Alleghany High School three assistant principals heading into the 2023-2024 school year. Taylor and Cochran will join Charity Hale in serving as assistant principals under Principal Derek Cantrell in the consolidated high school.
In the fall, Alleghany High School will serve students in grades 9-12. These two assistant principal roles for AHS were budgeted in advance as part of the school board’s strategic planning for the 2023-2024 school year.
“The school board is excited to welcome Mr. Cochran to our system and welcome Ms.Taylor back to the Alleghany Highlands! We feel certain their leadership and past experiences will certainly complement our leadership team at AHS,” said Jacob Wright, chair of the Alleghany Highlands School Board.
Taylor has served as principal of Valley Elementary School since July 2021. In July 2022, she took on the additional duties of Title I coordinator for the school division.
Taylor began her career in public education in 2007 as a teacher with Greenbrier County Public Schools in West Virginia. In July 2014, she joined Alleghany County Public Schools and taught secondary English and language arts at Clifton Middle School. She was named teacher of the year at CMS in the 2016-2017 school year. In July 2020, she became a technology and testing resource teacher and completed her administrative internship at Mountain View Elementary School. She worked at Mountain View for one year before being named Valley Elementary principal in 2021.
She holds a master’s degree in administration and supervision from the University of Virginia. Taylor received her master’s degree in 2021, graduating magna cum laude. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Bluefield State College in 2007. She also graduated magna cum laude from Bluefield State.
“I am so grateful for this opportunity, and all of the opportunities that have led me here. I am elated to be back ‘home’ serving the students of Alleghany Highlands Public Schools,” Taylor said.
Prior to joining the Shenandoah Valley Center for Advanced Learning in 2021, Cochran was an assistant principal at Park View High School in South Hill. He was assigned to Park View in July 2017. Park View High School is part of the Mecklenburg County Public School Division.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke in 2001, Cochran joined Henry County Public School in 2002 as a teacher at Magna Vista High School. In 2006, he moved to North Carolina and became a teacher at Edgecombe Early College High School in Tarboro. He later taught at high schools in New Bern and LeGrange, N.C., before serving as an administrative intern in 2014-2015. His internship was at North Lenoir High School.
Cochran holds a bachelor of arts degree in social studies education from UNC-Pembroke, and a master’s degree in executive leadership studies from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C. He graduated summa cum laude from Gardner-Webb in 2015.
“My family and I are excited to be joining the Alleghany Highlands community. Everyone we have met has been really welcoming to us as we are making this move. I am enthusiastic about the opportunities of the future,” Cochran said.
The Alleghany Highlands Public Schools Division was created by the July 1, 2023, merger of Alleghany County Public Schools, Covington City Public Schools, and Jackson River Technical Center. The school division serves approximately 2,700 students. It is jointly funded by Alleghany County, and the City of Covington.
School division news and events are regularly updated on Facebook at AHPublicSchools, and the division website www.ahps.k12.va.us.
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