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September 27, 2008

20 Under 40 - Keith Moore

Moore brings CEO mentality to school

By Janet Jacobs The Corsicana Daily Sun Sat Sep 27, 2008, 09:06 PM CDT

If Corsicana High School were a business, it would be one of the biggest companies in town. It has 194 employees, including 105 teachers, it provides immediate services to 1,500 young adults on a daily basis ten months out of the year, and has an annual budget of $1,020,107, not including salaries, and receives $351,710 in federal funds. The facilities are around 350,000 square feet, and it’s all under the direction of 38-year-old Keith Moore, who’s now on his third year as principal at the school.

Moore’s parents were both Corsicana teachers, and he was a student at Corsicana High School 20 years ago.

“When I step back and think about it, I sometimes think ‘yes, I am very young to have this much responsibility,’ but I have been a school administrator since I was 26,” Moore said. “I was a high school principal when I was 29. I grew up the son of a teacher and a coach. Schools are all I have ever known. When I walked into C.H.S. as the principal for the first time I was a little nervous, but when I opened the door to the school and I walked in, it felt right. It hasn't felt like a job for one minute. I don't know what it would have felt like at a 4-A campus somewhere else, but I am a die-hard, blue-and-gold Tiger. I have always been proud of C.H.S., as a student, athlete, alumnus, and now as the principal.”

His goals for the school are equally ambitious.

“I want C.H.S. to be an asset to the community of Corsicana. When prospective business and industry comes to town, I want them to investigate our high school and for C.H.S. to be a huge check mark in the plus column of reasons to invest in Corsicana,” he said.

For students and parents, he wants it to be the school of choice in Navarro County, he said.

“Parents and students around the county should be beating our doors down to take advantage of the opportunities and quality education that can be gained at C.H.S.,” he said.

In addition, he wants the students to be proud of being Tigers.

“I want them all to feel like we are doing everything we can to set them up for success later in life,” Moore said.

Since taking the reins of the high school, he’s created a dual-credit program with Navarro College, instituted the block schedule, which began in fall 2006, and put a renewed emphasis on academics, particularly the TAKS test.

As if he didn’t have his hands full with the school, he’s also on the Strategic Planning Group with Lee McCleary, and on the United Way Board of Directors.

When not working, he likes to take his boat out on Richland Chambers with my family, or the occasional round of golf, and bird hunting from time to time, he said.

Moore went to school in Corsicana from sixth grade through graduation, and spent one semester at the Naval Academy before returning to two years at Navarro College. He completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of North Texas. His education continued at Stephen F. Austin and at the University of Texas-Tyler, then completed with his doctorate in education at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. He taught school at Kerens and Mexia before being hired as assistant principal at Collins Middle School. After three years at Collins, he returned to Kerens to work as principal at the high school there for two years. He is married to Lee Moore, a diagnostician with the district. They have two daughters.

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20 Under 40 - Keith Moore

Moore brings CEO mentality to school

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