John Kellogg of Grove City High School has been appointed by the Bexley Board of Education as Bexley High School Principal, effective July 1.

The official announcement came at the school board meeting on Monday.

He will replace Earl Focht, who is retiring after four years in the position. Before Focht was BHS principal, he served as assistant principal from 1982 to 1998.

Kellogg, who will turn 40 in June, will earn $105,000 in his first year as Bexley’s principal. The Bexley board unanimously approved the three-year deal. Kellogg was to make $91,185 leading Grove City High School for the full length of his contract.

He has been Grove City High School principal in the South-Western City School District for the past five years. During his tenure there, he assisted in supervision of building renovation and improvement projects that included expansion work, construction of music department facilities, renovation of the auditorium and expansion and improvement to athletic facilities.

Kellogg was selected following a national search for a new Bexley High School principal. A consensus to support his appointment was reached among all interview teams. These teams included students, teachers, administrators, parents and other community members,

According to Bexley City Schools Superintendent Mike Johnson, participants in the process thought that Kellogg would be an excellent leader and greatly contribute to BHS's professional team.

Interviewees described him as a person with a "terrific sense of humor and very knowledgeable" about high school curriculum, Johnson said.

‘They felt Mr. Kellogg possessed a thorough understanding of educational leadership and would be able to lead our high school to greater levels of performance," he said.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Master of Education Degree in Supervision of Science Curriculum at William and Mary. He also has an Educational Specialist Degree in Educational Administration from George Washington University.

His educational leadership background includes: Assistant Principal at Atlee High School, Hanover County Public Schools in Hanover, Va.; Instructional Specialist for Student Services, York County School Division in York County, Va.; and Teacher in Residence for High Schools in York County, where he led teachers through professional development and curriculum revisions.

Kellogg grew up in Princeton, N.J. His wife, Kim, is from Logan. The couple have two children: Erin, 9, and lan, 6.

While they have not set a timetable, the Kelloggs plan to live in Bexley.

"As a family, we will be looking at moving to Bexley," Kellogg said. From a philosophical view, it is good for the principal to live in the community."

When he is not working on his doctoral dissertations, Kellogg likes to run and spend time with his family.

Coming to Bexley High School as principal is an exciting opportunity, Kellogg said.

He comes from a high school with 2,200 students, the seventh largest in the state, to a school with a student population of 780.

Kellogg said he has had a positive experience in the South-Western City Schools District and had looked at a "long list" before he made a decision to leave.

The smaller school size attracted Kellogg to Bexley.

"I like the aspect of a smaller school," he said. ‘There is a strong connection between district and community and a great emphasis on academic achievement."

In other school business, former athletic director Gene Millard will return on April 1 as interim director to replace Jack Brownley, who resigned. The district is looking for a person to fill the position on a permanent basis.

Maryland Avenue Elementary School Principal David Hilliard and staff member Jeanine Hetzler presented a faculty report to the board.

At a recent mini-retreat, Maryland staff identified three school-wide goals: learning to learn, thinking and reasoning skills, and personal and social responsibility.

Hilliard said that in the school population of about 300 students, nine percent come in the fall and leave by spring.

‘We would like to keep those students,’ he said. That statistic tells us something. It may mean that we look at how we deliver services.

The board also was told of a Bexley Middle School survey that also had been conducted with more than 250,000 students in 33 states.

An overview of the BMS results were presented by Mike Nicholson, an intern at the middle school, who is in Columbus working on a doctorate degree at The Ohio State University.

Among assets identified by approximately 345 BMS students: a positive family support system, constructive use of time, commitment to learning and positive self-identities.

Bexley students were high in a number of areas compared to the national survey results.

One of the results found by Nicholson was that school motivation by students did not equate with whether or not they did homework.

He said that survey results could lead to addressing curriculum to meet students' social and emotional needs.

A group of about eight parents at the meeting urged parental involvement in the process being set forth by teaching staff for reaching determined goals at individual schools.

Concern was also raised about district class-size policy.

‘We actually look at class-size policy once a year." said board president Mike Levey. We do compare ourselves to other districts, but that’s not always how we make our decisions. We’re always in a constant state of evaluating our polices."

Levey said that financial considerations were part of determining class-size policy.