Greene, Feagan to move to higher positions in system
Polk County Schools Superintendent Bill Miller announced July 18 a shift in leadership within the school system effective at the end of this month.
Dr. Mary Margret Ingle has decided to retire after 13 years as associate superintendent of Polk County Schools.
“Dr. Ingle is the epitome of what an educator should be and a legend to the educators of Western North Carolina… she has had tremendous impact on our programs and is a big part of the success of Polk County Schools,” Miller said in a release.
Ingle has been an educator for 45 years, 32 of those in Polk County.
Prior to her current position, Ingle served as an assistant superintendent in the Hendersonville City and Henderson County school districts. She has also served as a teacher and principal at Saluda School.
Miller said he believes leaving her position was not an easy decision for Ingle as she had discussed retiring for some time before being able to finally make the decision to leave.
“Dr. Ingle loves her job and the children of Polk County, but has decided it is time to devote more time to her family, especially her granddaughter,” Miller said. “Like everybody who retires, it’s easy to talk about it but harder to do.”
As Ingle transitions out of her position, PCHS Principal Aaron Greene will take on the position of director of curriculum and instruction.
“Aaron is just an outstanding administrator,” Miller said. “One thing is I hate to see him leave the students and the parents, everybody seems to like him. But I think this will be a good move for him. Serving as principal for as long as he has is a tough job.”
Greene’s new position will cover a wide umbrella to make sure that all the schools in the system are keeping up-to-date with new curriculum standards and instructional methods.
He served as a math and computer engineering teacher before getting his administrative degree and eventually serving as an assistant principal and later principal. He said he’s always been interested in how educators become better at what they do and he wants to assist to make sure kids are getting what they need in the classroom.
Greene has served as principal of PCHS for eight years.
“You do something for this long and you obviously gain a connection with your staff and students,” Greene said. “I’m going to miss that daily interaction … working with the people here to achieve their goals.”
Current assistant principal Mary Feagan will take over as principal at PCHS, easing students into the new school year with a familiar face.
Feagan said she has always thought that whoever followed Greene would have a difficult job. She said she doesn’t expect however to change things dramatically as she takes on the role.
“All I want to do is build on the success we’ve had. We’re an excellent school and all I want to do is help us to continue to get better,” Feagan said. “My children were fortunate enough to be educated in Polk County schools and I want all children to have the same opportunities mine did.”
Feagan has served as assistant principal for the past eight years.
“I’m happy Mary Feagan has decided to take on this challenge,” Miller said. “Her kids attended Polk County High School so she’s vested in it and everybody knows her, so there’s no big transition.”
Miller said he hopes to be able to hire from within the system for the assistant principal position being vacated by Feagan.