National Principal Month Highlight: Dr. Aleisha McCallie
(October 26, 2023) Dr. Aleisha McCallie, principal at Tyner Middle Academy, shares a passion for education and drive for excellence using her gifts to enlighten students and give them the tools to thrive not just at school, but throughout their life.
October is National Principals Month, and HCS thanks the dedicated and supportive principals of our schools. This month we will be highlighting a few stand out individuals that put their students and school first every day. Dr. McCallie is one of these stand out principals, going further every day for her students.
In regards to Dr. McCallie’s work, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Sonia Stewart stated, “Dr. McCallie is a passionate leader who is deeply committed to her students. She has built a strong foundation at Tyner Middle Academy by setting high expectations for her staff and students while also providing consistent support. She is a dynamic leader and we are thankful to have her leading in Hamilton County Schools.”
Dr. Aleisha McCallie has been a part of Hamilton County Schools since she was an elementary student. Starting from Calvin Donaldson, moving to East Lake, then finally graduating second in her class from The Howard School. Graduating high school as a young mother, she had a driven personality and goal mindset. From there, she went into math sciences earning a degree in engineering and using this degree to work with the VA (Veterans Affairs) in biomedical engineering. After work, she would volunteer with her son's pre-school, and it was there that she found her new passion for education.
Discovering this new calling, she earned her masters in education, and worked at Hillcrest as a first and third grade teacher. From there, she moved to East Brainerd where she taught as a 3rd grade teacher while earning her doctorate. Dr. McCallie then moved to Nashville working in both teaching and establishing school clubs, before coming back to East Brainerd where she would eventually become an instructional coach. Her career took her towards administrative positions where she worked as Assistant Principal at Clifton Hills and eventually became Tyner Middle Academy’s Principal.
“Tyner truly speaks to everything I believe in,” Dr. McCallie stated in regards to her role. She feels that it is her duty to sacrifice herself to her students and pour into them the things that she didn’t have for herself. She explained that her drive comes from seeing students who look like her. Knowing that it is her responsibility to be a mentor for students so they see that they can achieve whatever they put their mind to, she shared that to her, “Representation matters,” and she wants to show her students that they can overcome trials.
Dr. McCallie shared that her “why” is her students, explaining that she wants them to succeed, and uses her own gifts to help them reach their highest potential. Additionally, she expressed her desire to see students use their own gifts to help make others better as well. “I want the community to know that we are not just a school that can be excellence, but we are excellence. Everything we need is here within our school, it's just up to us to make sure that the things I see on an everyday basis, the community sees as well. Our kids are phenomenal.”
HCS thanks Dr. Aleisha McCallie for her continued excellence as Tyner Middle Academy Principal and her dedication for creating students that have skills in not just academics, but communication and resiliency.