FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Former Springdale Principal to Direct Leadership Academy
Debbie Davis
Debbie Davis has been chosen as the new director of the Arkansas Leadership Academy, the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas announced. Davis takes over the helm from Beverly Elliott, who retired in June.
The leadership academy was created by the Arkansas General Assembly in 1991. Based in the College of Education and Health Professions, the academy is made up of 49 partners including universities, professional associations, educational cooperatives, state education departments and representatives of business and industry. The office is based in Fayetteville with additional staff in Little Rock.
Since its inception, the academy has served more than 10,300 teachers, principals, superintendents and other educators with leadership building programs. Several other states have used the academy as a model in developing their own leadership programs.
In 1990, Davis came to Arkansas from Oklahoma to teach in the Eureka Springs School District. She had her first contact with the leadership academy within a few years and has participated in nearly every program the academy offers.
Davis earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Central Oklahoma and a doctor of education degree from the University of Arkansas.
In 2007, Davis completed the academy's Master Principal Institute, an intense three-year program, and was designated a Master Principal while working at Bayyari Elementary School in Springdale. She was also honored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals as Arkansas Elementary Principal of the Year. That same year, Davis resigned from the school district to become director the Master Principal Institute, a position she held until being appointed director of the academy.
"We are delighted with Dr. Davis' appointment," said Reed Greenwood, dean of the College of Education and Health Professions. "She brings a wealth of experience to the position from her work in public schools and her experience with the academy.
"The Arkansas Leadership Academy is a vitally important part of the college's statewide effort to build leadership in the education system."
As a principal involved in leadership training through the academy, Davis said, she saw firsthand how what she was learning benefited the students in her school. She learned the value of collaboration and involving every stakeholder in the education system, she said.
"We reached out to the community," she recalled, "and it had a positive impact on the students. We established partnerships with the Ozark Literacy Council and the Jones Center for Families and local contractors. They were more than willing to help."
The academy also helps teachers see they can be leaders in their schools regardless of whether they plan to pursue a principal's position, Davis said.
"They can make positive changes in schools that affect students and raise achievement levels," she said. "I have found that school leaders will work their hearts out for kids. We have incredible people leading our schools.
"What Beverly Elliott and the partners have built is amazing," she continued. "I'm very honored the partners believe that I can lead the academy into the next decade. The main message I want people to understand is that nobody can do this by themselves. We all have to work together."