Chris Nail already knows all of the names of the faculty and staff at Mount Vernon-Enola High School.
“Now I’m working on learning all the students’ names,” he said with a smile. Nail, 39, is the new high school principal.
Nail comes to Mount Vernon-Enola High School from Benton High School in Saline County, one of the largest high schools in the state.
“We had about 1,100 students last year in Benton High School (grades 10-12),” he said. “We have about 240 here (grades seven through 12).
“This is a nice change,” said Nail, who was the assistant principal and co-athletic director at Benton High School for the past two years. “It’s a good change for me.”
Prior to moving into administration at Benton, Nail was the head basketball coach.
“I taught and coached for 15 years before becoming the assistant principal at Benton,” he said.
“I’m done with coaching,” he said with a laugh. “I want no part of that here. I want to be able to watch the games, eat my popcorn and not worry about it.”
Nail’s wife, Caroline, is the new principal at Clinton Elementary School.
“Our house has just sold in Benton, so we’ll be moving up this way soon,” Nail said. The couple have two sons, Brooks, 12, and Bo, 11.
“Brooks will be coming to school with me, and Bo will be going to Clinton schools with Caroline,” he said. “We’re looking forward to it.”
Nail grew up in Batesville, the son of John and Sarah Nail, who now live in Greenwood. Nail has one sister, Alison Houston, who is the assistant district attorney in Greenwood.
“My parents were both teachers,” he said. “My dad was an English teacher and a coach. My mom taught special education. The majority of their years in education were at [Batesville] Southside.”
Nail is a 1994 graduate of Batesville Southside High School. He graduated in 1998 from Hendrix College in Conway, where he majored in physical education, health and education studies. He played basketball at Hendrix, where he met his wife.
Nail received a Master of Science in Education degree in education leadership and principal’s certification at Arkansas State University in 2004 and an Education Specialist degree in superintendency in 2014.
“I plan to work on my doctorate next year,” he said. “I am hoping to get into Harding University.”
Nail said he knew about the Mount Vernon-Enola School District when he was a student at Hendrix in Conway.
“I did not realize how special it was until I got here,” Nail said. “The tests scores are fantastic. The community support is fantastic.
“There are a lot of tenured faculty members. That ought to tell you something — the teachers come here and don’t want to leave.
“There are a lot of good practices in place, but [faculty and administrators] are receptive to change. It’s a good situation.”
Nail said when he interviewed for the job, superintendent Tommy Walters told him Mount Vernon-Enola is “the best kept secret in Arkansas.”
“It is,” Nail said. “It’s a little school with a big heart.”
Nail said two new teachers have been hired at Mount Vernon-Enola High School.
“Adam Carlton is the new girls basketball coach, and Kerri Pierce is the new high school media specialist.
“This must be a great place to be,” he said. “There’s not much turnover.”
Nail said the school district will soon launch a Facebook page for the high school.
“We think that will be another way of communicating to our students and faculty, as well as the community,” he said. “Everyone’s on Facebook these days.”
Nail said the school district will also comply with the 2015 State School Safety Act, which mandates that every school in Arkansas be equipped with a panic-button system integrated into the Smart911 emergency call system.
“School safety is a serious deal these days,” Nail said. “We’ve taken precautions throughout the building. This new panic button is an app on a cellphone that would contact authorities during a school emergency.
“It’s a good thing. We have to turn in our plan for the panic button by Sept. 1.”
When Nail is not on campus, he said, his biggest hobby is “chasing kids.”
“That takes most of our time,” he said, laughing. “I am, however, the world’s worst duck hunter, but I do enjoy it.”
Nail is a member of the Arkansas Administrators Education Association. He and his family attend North Bryant Baptist Church.
“We’ll be looking for a new church soon,” he said.