Even though Carlisle and Cabot are both in Lonoke County, Brad Horn didn’t know a lot about Carlisle before applying for the city’s high school principal’s job five years ago.
However, in that five years, Horn has been promoted to superintendent of the Carlisle School District.
Horn, 46, is in his fifth year as Carlisle High School principal, his first administration job after teaching for many years in Cabot, his alma mater.
“At the time, I really didn’t know anything about [Class] 2A schools,” Horn said. “I was used to at least four principals being in the office. I didn’t know there was such a thing as a ‘head only’ principal with no assistant. I really didn’t know what I was applying for. I thought I was looking at an assistant’s role.”
Horn was teaching at Cabot Middle School North when he received an email about the high school principal’s job at Carlisle.
“It was stating that Mr. [Jason] Clark would be a good superintendent to work for and that there was an opening over in Carlisle,” Horn said. “I applied for it.
“As I dug deeper, I found it was the head principal’s job. I actually talked to Sandy Collins, who was the secretary at the time, about it. I came on over and talked to Mr. Clark and got the job.”
Horn said Cabot has a great school and that he got a good education there and enjoyed working there.
“But there is something to a smaller school,” he said. “I tell people all the time — my first three weeks there, from being on lunch duty, I think I had a connection of some kind with every kid who walked into the building. I could not have told you everyone’s name, but I recognized every student who came in the door. Cabot is such a big school. You’re lucky to know the people in Champ’s Hall, where I was teaching.
“Just the smaller feel to the school I enjoy. I really do enjoy it. I think that’s what attracted me to it — the opportunity.”
To put things in perspective, Cabot High School is grades nine through 12; Carlisle High School is grades seven through 12.
“I’ve never had a question about the career change, coming to Carlisle,” Horn said. “Even throughout the process, I would say I never questioned coming to a smaller school or Carlisle. I had always heard great things about Carlisle. I had not really been to Carlisle, other than a couple of fishing trips and stopping by Nick’s Barbecue.”
However, he knew about the Bison football team, which played in five state-championship games from 1989 to 2011.
“I didn’t know a lot about it other than Barton-Carlisle,” Horn said. “That’s what I heard about Carlisle in my time at Cabot. That was the game everybody talked about.
“That was my knowledge of Carlisle until I came here. But there’s no question; never has there been a question about being in the right spot.”
Horn is a 1990 graduate of Cabot High School. After graduation, he served in the Navy for five years, being stationed in San Diego, California, before returning to Arkansas.
Horn worked in construction while attending Arkansas State University-Beebe, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in education from ASU-Jonesboro. He started his teaching career at Cabot in fall 1999. He taught earth science and Pre-Advanced Placement biology at Cabot Junior High School North.
“Most of my career was spent at the junior high level,” Horn said. “Then I went over to the high school and taught four years.”
While at Cabot High School, Horn taught engineering classes.
“My final year at Cabot, I wanted to get some lower-level experience,” he said, “so I was looking for a PE job in elementary because I knew I was leaning toward administration. I wanted to make myself more marketable with lower grades. I ended up getting a job under Mrs. Tanya Spillane for one year, teaching science and social studies at Cabot Middle School North.”
Horn was hired as the superintendent at Carlisle by the school board in January.
“It means a lot that I get to take over as superintendent,” Horn said. “I’ve worked under, I honestly believe, two of the best superintendents in the state,” referring to Cabot superintendent Tony Thurman and Clark.
“My relationship with Dr. Thurman is not even close to what it is with Mr. Clark, obviously, since I was in a different role,” Horn said.
Horn said he wants to take bits and pieces of what both Thurman and Clark have done in their roles running Cabot and Carlisle, respectively.
“I think just as a principal, I took bits and pieces of all the principals that I worked for,” Horn said. “That made a hybrid of all those things. I can see me taking pieces of the job that
Dr. Thurman brings to the table and the pieces that Mr. Clark brings to the table and combining those. So I’m excited about the opportunity.”
Thurman said he thinks Horn will do good things at Carlisle.
“Brad Horn has all the qualities to be an outstanding superintendent,” Thurman said. “An important quality for a new superintendent is to realize that they don’t know everything, and they they need to seek help from those who can provide assistance. Mr. Horn is confident but realizes that there is a lot to learn in his new role.”
Thurman said Horn loves working with students.
“He cares deeply about the district having a background in Carlisle and wants nothing more than for the district to be very successful under his leadership,” Thurman said.
Horn said the Carlisle School District has a few challenges, including declining enrollment and test scores.
“Declining enrollment is going to be a challenge to overcome,” he said, adding that the lower grades have seen larger classes starting, which will help balance things out.
“Test scores … we want to be at the top,” Horn said. “We don’t want to settle for state average. We want to go as high as we can. That’s what we’re going to work toward. Just as a building principal here, I’ve tried minor changes every year, trying to look for the right piece, the right change that is going to turn things around. We haven’t found it yet, but we’re going to continue to work for it.”
Former Bison baseball coach and Carlisle Elementary School physical education teacher B.J. Greene, who is currently working at Smackover High School, will replace Horn as high school principal. Greene joins the administration team, which includes elementary principal Jason Stewart and Rachel Horn, who serves as an assistant principal for both schools. She is also Brad Horn’s wife.
“With Coach Greene coming in, he’s going to be a tremendous asset for both the athletic programs and the academic side,” Horn said. “I feel real good about them all. Mr. Stewart and I are a lot alike. I’ve always felt, and I’ve always stressed, that an assistant principal should complement the head principal. I think that’s what we’ve got now. Mrs. Horn is amazing with teachers and the kids. Mr. Steward and Coach Greene are going to be good on the faculty side but also on the discipline side, taking care of kids. Mrs. Horn, she’s got that piece that can make a good teacher great. That’s something we need. One part of the administrative team needs to be able to do that.”
Horn said he will miss the day-to-day interaction with the students, as well as the faculty, at Carlisle High School.
“That’s been a struggle,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to be. The connection with the kids is a big one for me. I’ll miss my faculty. I’ll still be around them. It’s just in a different capacity.”
Horn said that as high school principal, he didn’t have an attachment to the people at the elementary school.
“Now, there will be an attachment to those folks, too,” he said, “but it will be a tough move, getting farther away from the high school. I’ll miss the kids, too. This senior class was a fun group. Every class that comes through has different parts that I’ll miss.
“This one is a good one to go out on.”
Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.