With a walkie-talkie in one hand and a smile on her face, B.F. Terry High Assistant Principal of Instruction Keschia Jones walks through the cafeteria on her way to afternoon hall duty. She chats with students along the way, reminding them to turn in homework or go to tutorials.
Jones has been selected to represent the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals as the Region 4 Outstanding Assistant Principal of the Year. TASSP recognizes outstanding principals and assistant principals from the 20-region Education Service Centers in the state.
School administrators are nominated and chosen by their peers within their regions. Nominations are based upon exemplary performance and outstanding leadership.
Each of the winners will be recognized during the Josten’s Night of the Stars Awards Dinner on Tuesday, June 11 at the Hilton Austin Downtown Hotel.
“Ms. Jones is an outstanding administrator,” Dr. Andree Osagie, principal at Terry said. “She is fully dedicated to whatever it takes to make students successful. She works very hard to build positive relationships with students, parents, and staff. Our campus is fortunate to have Ms. Jones on the administrative team and we are proud that TASSP has given her this award.”
Born in Houston, Jones graduated from Edward E. Worthing High School, earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Houston and her master’s degree in administration/supervision from the University of Houston at Victoria.
She has 23 years of K-12 experience and has held a variety of positions in large school districts, including assistant principal of instruction, assistant principal, ESL specialist, science interventionist and PK-2 music teacher.
A five-year assistant principal, she has headed numerous departments, including English and Language Arts, ESL, Fine Arts and Social Studies.
She has an extensive leadership background in curriculum and instruction, and her ability to build positive relationships with students, teachers, and parents has proven successful.
Jones sees herself as being a risk taker, a visionary and leader of learners. She is credited with numerous achievements including leading teams who made double-digit gains on state assessments as well as building rapport with students, staff and parents. She takes special pride in her ability to develop and build the instructional and leadership capacity in teachers and staff.
She has been married to her husband Danny Jones for 21 years and has three “amazing” children, Alexis, 25, Tsedale, 23, and Kassidy, 20 who all attended Lamar CISD schools. She enjoys singing, teaching dance and drawing.