Sarah (Finch) Rigdon, a Fannin County High School Class of 1987 graduate, was recently promoted to Assistant Superintendent of Achievement & Governance after serving as the Fannin County School System as a teacher, curriculum specialist, assistant principal, principal and more.
Rigdon began teaching in 1990 at Blue Ridge Elementary School (BRES) at the age of 21. During that time, she “learned a lot about herself and life” from her Kindergarten students that first year. She believes that first year teaching confirmed that the career “she picked as a fourth grader” was the perfect fit.
Since 1990, Rigdon has been a teacher at both BRES and East Fannin Elementary School (EFES), working with students in Kindergarten, first and third grades.
According to her, first and third grades were her favorite years because “in first grade you see the excitement in a child’s eyes when they realize they are reading on their own, and in third grade you witness a child become an independent learner.”
She said, “There’s nothing quite as powerful as seeing a child make the realization that they can do anything!”
Following her first 10 years in the classroom, she also served as an elementary curriculum specialist at all three elementary schools and an academic coach at BRES.
In August 2012, Rigdon became the assistant principal at EFES and quickly moved into the role of principal three short months later, where she served the school from November 2012 until June of 2017. Rigdon said that role shaped her view of “how we must treat children and each other so that our schools can thrive.”
She said, “Learning has to be the focus in schools, but learning can’t happen if there isn’t a culture of caring and genuine interest in each other already in place.”
She was promoted to the Director of Achievement for Fannin County Schools in July of 2017. In this role, her primary areas of responsibility included managing federal programs, overseeing accreditation and school improvement, and administering the statewide assessment program for the district.
Her new position as Assistant Superintendent over Achievement and Governance will expand on those duties to include overseeing the charter for Fannin County Schools and serving as a liaison between the school board office and the school governance teams at each of the five schools.
Rigdon is most looking forward to being back in the schools more frequently as she works with the school governance teams.
Rigdon said “schools are busy, exciting places” and she is “honored to be a part of an amazing support system for our children, our employees, and our community.”
“I’m excited for this new opportunity to make a difference,” she said.
She is married to ETC Vice-President of Operations Frankie Rigdon, and their “ever-growing” family includes five sons, two daughters, five daughters-in-law, a son-in-law, and six grandchildren, with another grandchild due July. Their youngest child, Mollie, is a senior at Fannin County High School.