Clarification: This story has been updated to better reflect the point in Swilley’s tenure when Fairfield Central first achieved a 90 percent graduation rate.
The sleeve of tattoos that run up Tracie Anderson Swilley’s left arm brings pieces of her life and work together—her favorite flower, a quote from the Bible, and a musical note that reminds her of a student who lost their life a few years ago.
“His mother and I got the same one,” Swilley told Education Week during a national gathering of school principals here. On the back of her arm is a tattoo of lion’s head, to remind her of the strength she needs as a leader.
As part of the Oct. 18 gathering, Swilley, the principal of Fairfield Central High School in Winnsboro, S.C., was named National Principal of the Year for the 2024-25 academic year. Swilley, along with two finalists, was chosen by the National Association of Secondary School Principals from a pool of 50 state principals of the year. (The award is for middle and high school principals; elementary principals are recognized separately through their own association.)
Swilley, a first-generation college graduate and former high school math teacher, has led Fairfield Central for the last decade. The school, which serves a population of mostly Black students, is in a rural, economically disadvantaged area of the state. Almost all of the 625-plus students at Fairfield Central qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
That hasn’t slowed Swilley’s ambitions for her students.
Over the last three years, the school has made strong gains in math and reading achievement—students who received a C or above in Algebra 1 increased from about 40 percent to 60 percent, for example, and students who received at least a C in English 2 increased from about 40 to 58 percent, according to the state’s standardized testing data.
The school also achieved a graduation rate of 90 percent two years after Swilley took over in 2013. Before that, the graduation rate had been around 70 percent.
Last school year, the school received an overall “good” rating on its report card from the state for the first time in its 37-year history, Swilley added.
Swilley’s parents never went to college, but made sure she and her sister understood the importance of higher education. In her role as a principal, Swilley said she’s tried to emphasize that mindset with her students too, by creating a “culture of expectation” in her school.
“I make sure they understand that the goal is excellence, what’s expected of them, and how to get there,” she said. “I do an affirmation with my students every day and emphasize that their ZIP code doesn’t decide their abilities.”
Getting test scores up by slowing down
Improving test scores has been high on Swilley’s to-do list in the last decade. The data had told her that students weren’t performing at grade level in math or English.
Swilley decided that all 9th grade students coming into her school would take Algebra 1. The initial classes focused on the foundational skills needed for Algebra 1, and an assessment in December determined who would continue in the class, and which students needed more help with the basics.
“We found a way to slow it down for kids that needed it,” said Swilley.
Swilley credits small group time, additional tutoring, and online, personalized practice for helping students improve their math scores. Students can also choose to complete Algebra 1 over two years instead of one, so that they move ahead only after they’ve fully grasped the fundamentals.
“That’s when they’re going to thrive,” she said.
I do an affirmation with my students every day and emphasize that their ZIP code doesn’t decide their abilities.
Swilley had a similar challenge with English/language arts—she noticed students coming into 9th grade were as much as three grade levels behind in their reading skills. Her approach was like her work in math: put all the students through a diagnostic test to determine who needed what kind of intervention.
Fairfield Central now uses a reading intervention program from HMH, Read 180, which recommends having smaller reading groups in class and more personalized attention to each student.
Fairfield Central has outperformed the state by almost 13 percentage points in terms of students who’ve scored a C or higher in Algebra 1, according to South Carolina’s school report cards database. For English 2, the state level scores are higher by 8 percentage points.
Featuring students’ voices in the school’s improvement
As Swilley spoke with Education Week, her phone buzzed with congratulatory messages. A lot of them were from her students.
“These mean a lot to me. They told me, ‘We knew we had the best principal in the world. Now everyone knows,’” Swilley said, smiling as she texted them back.
This deep connection between students and their principal, and their shared pride in school, wasn’t always a given. When Swilley took charge, she was the fourth principal that her seniors had in their time at the school.
“I vowed that I was going to at least see one 9th grade class go to a senior class, and I’ve kept my promise,” said Swilley.
She also had to work on students’ “mindset of limits”—low expectations for themselves—by exposing them to careers they can pursue after graduation. Swilley built upon the existing STEM college academy at Fairfield by adding an arts element to it. As part of this academy, students can earn an associate’s degree while they’re in high school.
Swilley also made sure that all her teachers mention the colleges they went to on their nameplates to let students know about the different opportunities they have. She’s intentional about “branding the importance” of college. Last school year, about 80 percent of Fairfield Central graduates were accepted at four- or two-year colleges.
Changing the school culture hasn’t been without its hiccups. One of the lessons Swilley has learned is that when it comes to improving behavior—in classes, the hallways, and the cafeteria—students must be part of the discussion.
Swilley initially “rushed in with a lot of rules” on dress codes and other issues that were being inconsistently applied between classrooms.
“We were being punitive about a whole lot of things that had nothing to do with student achievement,” she said.
She got rid of the prescriptive dress code once she asked students for their opinions. After she started listening to them, Swilley said she got the students’ buy-in for the expectations she set around academic achievement.
“I had to learn how to embrace letting students be part of the process,” said Swilley.
Growing a diverse group of leaders
Swilley’s work on expectations and mindsets extends to teacher leaders and the assistant principals at her school. As part of her work with the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, she currently mentors two principals who’ve sought her advice on managing the first few years of the principalship.
Swilley will visit her mentees in their schools, take a tour of the building, observe classrooms, and solicit their concerns as leaders. Swilley said she tries to not be prescriptive, and relies on her own experience as a veteran principal to help new principals in their jobs.
“I also learn from them because new principals tend to have a lot of innovative ideas [about leadership],” she said.
Within her school, she pairs assistant principals and teachers with her school’s testing coordinator so these future leaders can get hands-on experience with planning and implementing tests.
Swilley also plans to advocate for better recruitment of women of color, like herself, to the principalship. She wants to use her platform as National Principal of the Year to highlight some of the obstacles that women of color face in leadership.
“One of the biggest things is the imposter syndrome: Am I good enough? Am I capable?” she said. “Yes, we are good enough. We are capable. We bring things to the table.”
