Six more principals in Knox County Schools

Today we’re introducing six school principals who will be in a new school come July 2025. One already serves as the interim principal.

Taiesha Young will become principal at Carter Elementary School after serving as principal at Pond Gap Elementary since 2022. She joined Knox County Schools in 2017 as a teacher at Holston Middle School. She previously taught in Mississippi.

Also at KCS, she was an assistant principal at Gibbs and Pond Gap elementary schools. She became principal at Pond Gap when Trina Bruns became principal at Amherst Elementary. Young replaces Emily Jellicorse, principal at Carter Elementary since 2023.

Young holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Alcorn State, a master’s in education from the University of West Alabama, and an Educational Specialist degree in educational administration from Arkansas State University.

Leigh Anna McCann has been appointed principal of Corryton Elementary School, replacing Aaron Maddox, the principal there since 2015, who has retired.

McCann joined Knox County Schools in 2008 as teacher at Vine Middle Magnet School, where she later became a TAP master teacher. She has worked as a KCS secondary numeracy coach, a math teacher and math coach at Carter Middle School, a district lead teacher, and a math coach and lead instructional coach at Vine Middle.

She began her career in administration in 2018 as an administrative assistant at Cedar Bluff Middle School, and in 2020, became assistant principal of Lonsdale Elementary School, where she currently serves.

McCann holds a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s in curriculum and instruction, both from Tennessee Tech, and an educational specialist degree in instructional leadership from the University of Tennessee.

David Claxton will return to KCS to serve as principal of Hardin Valley Elementary School. He currently is an intermediate school principal in Maryville, Tennessee. Claxton joined KCS in 1998 as a teacher at Vine Middle. He also taught at Powell and South-Doyle high schools before becoming an administrator in 2012 at West Valley Middle School. He was principal at West Valley from 2015 to 2023.

Claxton holds a bachelor’s degree in geography and a master’s degree in education, both from the University of Tennessee, as well as an educational specialist degree in leadership from Lincoln Memorial University.

At Hardin Valley, he will replace principal Sarah Fish, who will become principal of Dogwood Elementary School in South Knoxville.

Beki Jones has been appointed principal of Norwood Elementary School, replacing veteran principal Robyn Ellis who retired. Jones joined Knox County Schools in 2010 as a teacher at Pleasant Ridge Elementary. In 2014, she became a math coach at Pond Gap Elementary, and later became an iZone math facilitator serving Green Magnet Academy, Lonsdale Elementary, Sarah Moore Greene Academy and Vine Middle School.

She began her career in administration in 2017 when she was named assistant principal at Lonsdale Elementary. She is currently the assistant principal at Ball Camp Elementary School, a position she has held since 2019.

Jones holds a bachelor’s degree in human growth and learning from Tusculum University and a master’s degree in administration and leadership from Carson Newman University.

Sarah Mercer has been appointed principal of Pond Gap Elementary School effective July 2025, replacing Taiesha Young who will be principal at Carter Elementary.

Mercer joined Knox County Schools in 2008 as a teacher at Beaumont Magnet Academy. She also worked as a magnet facilitator and numeracy coach while at Beaumont. In 2016, she became a TPaCK Coach at East Knox County Elementary. She began her career in administration in 2020, when she was named assistant principal of A.L. Lotts Elementary. She is currently the principal of New Hopewell Elementary, a position she has held since 2023.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Freed-Hardeman University, a master’s degree in instruction and curriculum from the University of Phoenix, and an educational specialist degree in instructional leadership from Lincoln Memorial University.

Amanda Hurd has been appointed principal of Sunnyview Primary School, where she currently serves as interim principal. The previous principal was Sydney Upton.

Hurd joined Knox County Schools in 1996 as a teacher at Carter Elementary. She was a teacher at Carter Elementary for 26 years, working in different grade levels and serving in various leadership positions. She began her career in administration in 2022 as an assistant administrator, then as assistant principal at Gibbs Elementary.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in human learning, growth, behavior and development and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, both from the University of Tennessee, as well as a master’s degree in educational leadership from Austin Peay State University.