Principal Spotlight: Terry Griffin

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North Tampa Christian Academy is pleased to introduce next year’s 9th-to-12th-grade principal! Hailing from Maryland, Terry Griffin has an extensive background in education. Her resume lists middle school teacher, high school teacher, superintendent associate, academic dean at John Hopkins, and now, principal again! To prepare for these prominent roles, Griffin received a B.S. in education, an M.Ed. in curriculum instruction and assessment, Ed. S in curriculum and instruction leadership, Ed. D in educational leadership, plus a principal fellowship with New York Leadership Academy. Without a doubt, her qualifications and experience are incomparable! When she was a child, she wanted to be a CNN reporter. Because she decided to skip the newsroom for the classroom, North Tampa is so blessed to have her!

Griffin is looking forward to working with like-minded teammates that want the same thing at a great school. Her passion drives from the desire to lead people who “present the will to make a valuable contribution to the wellbeing of others.”

“My goal is to mobilize community partnerships and action in order to identify and solve problems that create barriers to student learning,” she said. “Effective instruction is not about whether it was taught; it's about whether the student learned it.”

As an administrator, she is — among many things — the instructional leader with the responsibility to supervise, evaluate, coach, and provide learning opportunities so that teachers are equipped to engage students in the classroom. With a positive classroom culture and active involvement, she said, students will grow to contribute to the class success. When they leave the classroom, she hopes they leave with the power of mindfulness. The most rewarding part of it all is “building an educational organization that makes the greatest possible difference in the lives of students and their families.”

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Get to know Terry Griffin

Q: What do you do for fun? 

A: Any whodunit movies. Love mystery movies!

Q: Do you have a favorite movie or TV show? 

A: Any show produced by Dick Wolf like “Law and Order”, “Chicago PD”, etc.

Q: What’s your favorite book? 

A: “What I Know for Sure” by Oprah Winfrey!  

Q: Favorite place that you’ve traveled, or a place you hope to visit?  

A: Japan!

Q: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

Q: Rice!

At North Tampa Christian Academy, a Tampa private school, the faculty, staff, and families work as a team. Our service-oriented approach builds Christian leaders who think deeply, choose wisely, create beauty, and use their dreams to solve problems. Want to learn more about what makes us different? Contact us today.