Leaving her position as assistant principal at Southwest, Trish Taylor is taking on a new job as principal of East Career and Technical Academy. 

“I’m excited to join this ‘East Career and Tech community on the mountain,’ as they refer to it,” Taylor said. “Everyone keeps welcoming me to the mountain. It is a very tight-knit community that I am very excited to become a member of and really get to know that the students and staff and community members.”

After being at Southwest for seven years, two as a dean and five as an assistant principal, Taylor is ready for a new level of responsibility and leadership in a different environment. 

“I think that my time at Southwest has taught me to have very high expectations for teachers and students,” Taylor said. “The teachers at Southwest are exceptional and have very high expectations for students and that promotes student achievement across the board. I think I’m going to find a similar culture at East Career and Tech and I’m looking forward to carrying on that tradition.”

Facing new changes, the administration’s office will be different after Taylor’s leave. 

“We have three assistant principals right now,” Taylor said. “There’s going to be some movement. Ms. Besser is going to move into the curriculum office, and Ms. Kelley will be moving into the activities and testing office. They will hire a third assistant principal to replace me that will move into the student success office.”

Although it was a difficult decision to make, Taylor is excited for a new challenge.

“It’s been an amazing seven years developing some relationships with my colleagues that I have really enjoyed,” Taylor said. “I’ve learned from myself, and hope to continue building those collegial work relationships where both parties can grow and learn from each other and form those bonds of trust.”