New Leadership, Upgrades Creating Buzz at Irmo High

Submitted by Lexington-Richland District Five.

With just a few days before the start of the new school year, David Riegel has resigned himself to working particularly long days at Irmo High School. He wouldn’t have it any other way. 

It’s a very critical time – not just for Riegel, the school’s new principal, but also for Irmo High, a Lexington-Richland District Five school with strong legacies and major changes afoot. New school administrators coupled with new construction projects have created buzz at the school, and Riegel senses an opportunity to capitalize on this. 

“The theater, the athletic facilities, the changes in the physical structure of the building … It’s an opportunity for us to reinvent ourselves,” Riegel said. “I think a year from now, you see people who are really excited about what's happening here and are sort of overwhelmed by what's possible. We have a proud past, and a bright future.” 

As principal of Franklin High School in Franklin, Ohio from 2008 to 2013, Riegel has experience implementing positive change at a school. During his tenure, the school earned its first Excellent rating from the Ohio Department of Education. Riegel also worked to expand professional development opportunities for staff and instituted reforms leading to increases in student achievement and graduation rates. 

At Irmo High, he plans to raise student achievement by focusing on improving test scores, working on student interventions, and raising expectations for marginal students among other actions. To help accomplish this, Riegel already has begun to enlist the support of key community members: He’s given a Saturday school tour to Irmo High alumni from the Classes of 1970-79 and organized a meeting of former Irmo High principals. The community will have a role in and connection to the success of Irmo High School, Riegel said. 

“The school sets the tone for the community,” he said. “I'm not just passionate about public education. I'm passionate about the role of schools. I think that high schools have an integral role in a community. And when the high school is performing well and good things are happening it makes the community feel good about itself.” 

Newly promoted Assistant Principal John McMillan added that, “Irmo High is already changing for the better but also keeping the same core values of success; continued success in terms of student achievement, activities and being student-centered as a school. I think Mr. Riegel is going to help take us there.” 

Walking into the school’s newly constructed dance studio in early August, Riegel is met by questions and eager handshakes.

“Oh, you’re the new principal?” 12th grader Brooke Sawyer asks, adding that she’s excited about the new dance room this year. “It’s really nice to have all the new facilities.” 

“I’m liking it,” 11th grader Lydia Ray chimes in. 

This is what Riegel is most looking forward to: the students, including one in particular who will be a freshman. 

“This is the school my daughter will attend, so I have a pretty significant personal vested interest,” Riegel said. “But we want to make it the best it can be for all our students by taking the things that are good and building on that. We’ll be asking ourselves ‘what do we want to look like in the next 20 years?’ and ‘what do we want to look like in the next generation?’ Everyone is really excited about what the future is going to hold for us.”