By GINNY COOPER MCCARLEY / Staff Writer

ALABASTER—The Shelby County Board of Education held a special meeting at the Instructional Service Center in Alabaster on July 30 to approve Joel Dixon as the new principal of Calera High School.

Richard Bishop, former Calera High School principal, left the school to take a job as the director of ITT Technical Institute, according to Cindy Warner, public relations supervisor for Shelby County Schools. The board unanimously approved his resignation during its July 24 meeting.

Dixon currently serves as principal of Vincent Middle High School, where he has worked for the past two years. Prior to working at Vincent, Dixon was assistant principal at Calera High School from 2008 to 2012.

Dixon taught English language arts at McAdory for 10 years before coming to Shelby County.

“Thank you for the opportunity to come to Shelby County,” Dixon said during the meeting. “It was the best thing I ever did.”

Dixon earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, his administrative certification from the University of Montevallo in 2008 and his education specialist degree in instructional leadership in 2013.

Dixon and his wife, Amy, live in Columbiana with their two children, Emily and Will.

Board President Aubrey Miller praised Dixon during the meeting for his work with the school system.

“Wherever you’ve been, success follows,” Miller said.

Superintendent Randy Fuller said the board will, “fill the position at Vincent as soon as possible,” noting the job must be posted for two weeks before a decision can be made.

“The administration is set out there to open the school,” Fuller said, and emphasized the board would provide support to the school and hire the “best and brightest” to fill the position.