FAYETTEVILLE -- Fayetteville High School will have a new principal next school year.
Steve Jacoby announced his retirement Friday. His last day as principal will be June 30, he said.
Jacoby said this is his fifth year as principal at the school. He was principal at Bentonville High School for eight years before working in Fayetteville. He also spent one year as an assistant principal at Heritage High School in Rogers, worked for one year with the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science and was a principal at two high schools in Texas for 30 years.
The time commitment of the job led him to his decision to retire, Jacoby said. He said he doesn't feel he has the amount of time he needs to be successful in the position.
"I just can't keep up as much today as I once did," he said.
Superintendent Paul Hewitt wrote in an email being a principal was more of a calling than a job for Jacoby. He said Jacoby cares for his students and finds joy in spending time with them.
"Nothing brings a smile to my face like watching him join the students in dance routines," he wrote. "His dance moves are far better than mine. For the next principal, Steve Jacoby will be a very hard act to follow. Fayetteville High School is a much better school because Steve Jacoby was there."
Jeff Koenig said he's been involved with the Fayetteville School District through the past three decades. He's most recently worked with Jacoby as a past president of the Fayetteville Education Foundation and as the director of the Bulldog Classic basketball tournament.
Koenig said Jacoby is a calm and level-headed person. He also said the principal is supportive of community members who try to help the district.
"He's always been really upbeat, had the district's best interest at heart," he said.
Vance Arnold, baseball coach at the school, and Andrew Yoakum, Environmental And Spatial Technology facilitator at the school, said they've worked with Jacoby during his entire time in Fayetteville.
Arnold said Jacoby is always around and tries to make himself available to students, parents and teachers. He also said the principal is a great leader.
"He's willing to be at the school from 6 in the morning to 10 at night," he said.
Yoakum referred to Jacoby as a very supportive principal who has made the school a place where it's easy to get work done.
Jacoby has improved communication at the school to get everyone "on the same page," Yoakum said.
"There are a lot of small things that make a difference," he said.
Jacoby said he's asked the district for a part-time position. He said he still wants to contribute to the district after his retirement.
Officials will immediately begin to look for a new principal for the school, according to the district's community blog.
NW News on 03/07/2015