NASSP Principal of the Year: Dr. Tracie Anderson Swilley

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Dr. Tracie Anderson Swilley the Principal of Fairfield High School in South Carolina was named the 2025 Principal of the Year for the United States by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Today we’re going to talk to her about the culture transformation at her school that improved their graduation rate and built a school pride that is promoting excellence in everything they do. She also talks about school safety and how she has approached this sensitive topic. Listen to this inspiring principal and make your school a better place too.

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Dr. Tracie Anderson Swilley has over a decade of success as the principal of Fairfield Central High School. She is a Transformational Leader who has positively shifted the lives of her faculty and staff and, ultimately, the educational system in Fairfield County Schools and beyond. As a transformational leader, Dr. Swilley understands the Law of Replication and has many assistant principals who were promoted to principal under her guidance.

Additionally, she has promoted teachers within her building to the role of assistant principal and has mentored principals throughout the state. She embodies leading by example to ensure that leaders beget leaders.

Dr. Swilley, most recently named the 2025 National Principal of the Year by NASSP, has received many accolades for her astounding leadership, including 2024 South Carolina Association of School Administrators (SCASA) Secondary Principal of the Year, Proclamations from Fairfield County & the Town of Winnsboro, the SCAAA 2A Principal of the Year in 2023, Unity in the Community School Administrator Award in 2023, Fairfield County Coroner Outstanding Service Award in 2021, and Believers and Achievers Award in 2015. 

She is committed to advancing educational and social outcomes for those around her and is a longtime member of several professional organizations such as NASSP, SCEA, SCASA, SCAAA and ASCD. She currently serves as SCAAA 2A President, SCASA Secondary Principal Executive Committee District 2 Representative, and is a member of the Midlands Regional Educational Center Advisory Board. She is also an active member of the Richland County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Dr. Swilley knows that everyone can achieve given the proper assistance and support and uses data to guide her faculty and staff in best practices to improve student outcomes. She upholds the Fairfield Central motto of Griffins Soaring for Greatness: Griffins Believe, Griffins Achieve, and Griffins Succeed. The mission that she carries out is modeling how to provide every student with quality teaching and learning experiences every day.

Twitter: @PrincipalTSwil