Union Public School District is welcoming Dr. Steven Holifield to the middle school, where he will serve as principal for the 2019-20 school year.
Holifield is entering his 19th year in public education, beginning his career as a math teacher at Stone County School District in 2001. Since then, he has taught at Harrison County School District and served as a teacher for students with autism at Mill Creek in Lamar County before returning to school for an administration degree and starting work at Southeast Lauderdale School District.
“I was there nine years,” he said. “I’m at 18 years of experience in education.”
Although this will be his first time working in Newton County, Holifield is no stranger to Union School District.
“My wife is from Chunky,” he said.
Holifield has also worked previously with UPSD Superintendent Tyler Hansford and Union Elementary School Principal Lori Wilcher.
“I’ve worked really closely with some of the administrators here, through some collaborations, some principal collaborations that we have,” he said. “That’s where I met Mr. Hansford and Dr. Wilcher, through some collaborations that we’ve done.”
Looking forward to August, Holifield said his goal is for every student to show at least one year of growth by the end of the school year.
“I think the best thing, that all schools need to do, is make sure that all students are showing at least one year of academic growth,” he said. “The state model is a growth model.”
Holifield said students should not only be proficient in English, math and science, but also show growth in their academic knowledge by the end of the year. Throughout the year, he said, middle school students will be monitored to make sure they’re on the right track, identifying potential issues early and making sure there are no surprises on the state tests.
From his research into Union, Holifield said it was clear the school and community are very close knit, and he was excited to be a part of that.
“I can tell it’s a very tight knit community, and that’s what I’m a part of,” he said. “I can tell through the teachers responding to me, sending me text messages, it’s a very family-oriented staff, and that’s very important to me.
“I’m excited to work with the staff because of their mindset of being a family, and a collaborative group. I’m very excited about that.”
Over the summer and the school year, Holifield said he looked forward to meeting the students and parents and getting involved in the community. He said his goal is to not only help the students learn but to “support Union as a whole.”
