Dr. Eric Turner Named Washington High School Principal
Dr. Eric Turner has been named the new Principal of Washington High School, effective July 1, 2023. The Board of Education approved the hire during its regular meeting on Wednesday, December 21.
Turner replaces Dr. Kelle McCallum, who will retire following the 2022-23 school year after serving seven years as Washington High School Principal and 25 years in the district. Turner comes to WHS from Lindbergh High School, where he’s been an assistant principal since August of 2017.
“I’m really excited to be joining the School District of Washington. Washington is a community and a school district that I’ve viewed from afar very favorably for years. I was really excited to see this opening,” Turner said. “I could not have been happier with the interview process. Everything that I have thought about the district from the outside was really validated by everybody that I interacted with. The community feel is tremendous. It’s the kind of community that I want to be a part of and a school district that is headed in an exciting direction.”
“The Washington High School principal is an important and critical leadership role for our entire district and community. We are excited to have Dr. Turner join the Blue Jay family and the Washington community,” said School District of Washington Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Kephart. “Through our multiple rounds of interviews, Dr. Turner’s focus on the culture and climate of the building along with his instructional leadership qualities stood out as the right fit for WHS. We are excited to see the innovation that Dr. Turner will bring to WHS and the core excellence that he will continue as the next principal. We look forward to providing multiple opportunities for Dr. Turner to meet and interact with staff, students and the community during his transition.”
Being a part of the Washington community and the school district is something that drew Turner to the position.
“I have a really good job. Lindbergh is a great school district. I’ve been very fortunate to have the experiences that I’ve had here,” Turner said. “There aren’t a lot of places that are really intriguing to me. Washington is because it’s a community that really supports the school. The school is the heartbeat of the community. That’s the environment that I grew up in. It’s a good size town, but also has that small town feel. That’s something that very much appeals to me.”
Prior to serving as assistant principal at Lindbergh High School, Turner worked as a math teacher at Mehlville High School from 2013-17, where he also was the varsity assistant boys basketball coach. He began his teaching career at the Columbia, Ill., School District, where he worked as a middle school and high school math teacher from 2006-2013. He was named the Columbia Middle School Teacher of the Year in 2012. He also had stints as the varsity girls golf coach, assistant boys basketball coach, and assistant track and field coach while at Columbia.
As assistant principal at Lindbergh High School, Turner serves as the A+ Coordinator and also is involved with the master schedule, the transportation liaison, school start times task force, AVID implementation team, and special school district liaison. He worked on implementing the positive intervention center, power lunch, modified block schedule and equitable grading practices.
Turner received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Math Education from Culver-Stockton College in May of 2006.
From there, he received a Master’s Degree in Math and Science Education from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in December of 2012. He earned his second Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Southwest Baptist University in May of 2016.
Turner received his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Maryville University in December of 2021.
“I really focus on people. The relationship aspect of the job is what is most important to me,” Turner said. “Education is a people business. It’s all about the teachers, the students and the community. It’s my role as an educational leader to serve all three of those groups. One thing that I talk about a lot is setting a high standard. High achievement only comes through the framework of high expectations. I want to set a high bar for everything that we do and make sure we have supports in place to help teachers and students be the best versions of themselves.”
Turner has already begun preparing for his new job.
“There’s a lot of learning that I need to do about the district and about the high school specifically. I’ll be working with Dr. Kephart and the central office staff to gain as much of that institutional knowledge as I can between now and July 1,” he said. “My primary goal entering the job is to focus on building relationships with teachers and staff on the front end, and we’ll focus on the student part when I take the reins. I want to get into the building to meet the people and identify what’s going really well. There’s a lot of exciting things happening at Washington High School. My goal is to identify what needs to be done and then work collaboratively with the teachers, staff and students to figure out what steps we need to take when I take over in July.”
Turner is looking forward to visiting WHS as often as he can during the current school year.
“I want to find some days where I can come to the building and meet with teachers and staff. I still have a job that I need to finish at Lindbergh, so I’ll try to balance that with everything I need to know about the new position,” he said. “Meeting the people and starting to foster those relationships is really important. I would love to come to a few events. I’ve seen pictures of the new baseball and softball facility. It looks amazing.”
Turner, 39 years of age, is a graduate of Freeburg (Illinois) High School. He and his wife, Sarah, have one daughter, Ellen, who is 8 years old and in third grade.
Dr. Kelle McCallum Retiring
McCallum has been with the School District of Washington for 25 years, all at the high school. She served as principal for seven years, associate principal for eight years, and assistant principal for two years. She was the director of guidance at the high school for eight years before getting into administration.
Overall, McCallum has been in education for 29 years. Before coming to Washington, she was a teacher at Rolla Middle School for three years and at Chesterfield Day School for one year.
“I have loved my many years at Washington High School and look forward to my remaining time here. Thanks to the staff and students for all of their support,” McCallum said. “I wish our new principal, Dr. Turner, much success as he joins a great team here at Washington High School and the School District of Washington.”
Washington High School’s three assistant principals are Mary Kleekamp, Shawn Wallace and Ben Strauser.
Dr. Eric Turner
Eric and Sarah Turner
