Helping to chart the course as one of the top-performing districts in the state, Lakeland School System (LSS) Superintendent Ted Horrell is the 2022 Tennessee Superintendent of the Year.
Horrell’s selection was announced by the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents at its annual Awards Banquet on Sunday, Sept. 12, in Gatlinburg.
“I’m incredibly honored and humbled to have been selected to represent Lakeland School System and Tennessee in the national Superintendent of the Year competition,” said Horrell, who represented the Southwest Region of Tennessee at the banquet. “This award definitely reflects the hard work of my own teachers, staff, and leadership team in Lakeland.”
Horrell has served as LSS superintendent and founding director of schools since the district formed in 2014. Prior to then, he was principal of Germantown High for two years and principal of Millington Central High for three years. He also taught at Germantown High for six years.
Thanks to his leadership, LSS has earned an Exemplary School District designation in three of its four years of eligibility from the Tennessee Department of Education.
During his time in Lakeland, Horrell has supervised the addition of a 12-classroom addition at Lakeland Elementary, the construction of the $20 million Lakeland Middle Preparatory School that opened in 2017, and the current construction of the $40 million high school wing at the prep school that will open for the 2022-23 academic year.
Horrell is also currently spearheading efforts for the district to buy land for a possible a new elementary and perhaps a new middle school and central district office.
“His dedication to Tennessee’s students has continued to be exemplary even in these challenging and difficult days,” TOSS Executive Director Dr. Dale Lynch said in a prepared release. “It is an honor to have Dr. Horrell representing Tennessee in the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) National Superintendent of the Year Program.”
Horrell was selected over seven other regional Superintendents of the Year.
“The superintendents across the state have worked so hard for the last year and a half to overcome the challenges of the pandemic, and the collaboration with other leaders both in and outside our region has been a tremendous source of support and inspiration to me,” Horrell said.
Horrell will represent the state at the 2022 AASA National Conference on Education in Nashville next February.