Adding to a string of accomplishments and honors earned this year, Antioch High School has renewed reason to celebrate this week. Dr. Adrienne Koger, executive principal of Antioch, has earned the prestigious William J. and Lucille H. Field Award from the University of Tennessee.
During Dr. Koger’s tenure, Antioch High School has seen tremendous academic gains including an increase in ACT scores, graduation rate, attendance rate and End of Course exam scores, as well as an overall decrease in discipline incidents. Last fall, Antioch was named a Reward School by the Tennessee Department of Education for placing in the top five percent of all Tennessee schools for academic growth. Just a few weeks ago, Antioch was named a Model School by the International Center for Leadership in Education.
In recent years, the school has twice received a Level 5 TVAAS rating, been accepted as a candidate to become an IB World School, launched the Community Achieves program and won the Academies of Nashville Ninth Grade Academy of the Year award (2013-2014). Antioch also opened a student-run youth court earlier this school year and won a grant from NASA to further its robotics program.
Her peers have described Dr. Koger as a “true servant leader” possessing “unquestionable passion.” Her vision for improving the educational culture, climate, and experience for students from a wide range of backgrounds shines through in her work and will continue to positively impact the lives of the students she so selflessly serves.
The Field Award was established to recognize one outstanding secondary school leader each year who demonstrates leadership excellence through commitment to the values of civility, candor, courage, social justice, responsibility, compassion, community, persistence, service and excellence. Administered by the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at the University of Tennessee, the Field Award identifies a Tennessee secondary school principal whose life and work are characterized by leadership excellence and encourages secondary school principals to pause and reflect upon their current leadership practice and to consider their experience, challenges, and opportunities in light of the personal values that they embody.
Last year’s winner of the Field Award was Dr. Terry Shrader, executive principal of Hillsboro High School.
