PATRICK SCOTT – INCOMING PRINCIPAL, TYSON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Patrick Scott loves history and football. For seven years at Central Junior High and five years at Springdale Har-Ber High School he taught various history courses and served as an assistant football coach. When he became an administrator, his first job was at Tyson Middle School. Now he’s returning to that school as its’ principal.
“Once I earned my administration license from Arkansas State, I interviewed for all three assistant principal positions that were open in our district,” says Scott, who was at Har-Ber at the time. “Susan Buchanan at Tyson Middle School hired me. Stephanie Anderson was the other assistant principal. We worked together there for three years and I am very thankful for how much I learned.”
Fast forward to spring, 2021, when Anderson, who has now been Tyson Middle School principal the last six years, announced she is retiring. Scott, now an assistant principal at Har-Ber, interviewed and is elated to become a first-time principal.
“I love Har-Ber and I love Tyson Middle School,” Scott says. “At Tyson there is an amazing level of commitment to each individual kid. The entire team knows so much about each student. The staff puts words into action when it comes to personalized learning for every kid. Each teacher and staff member has a heart for kids. You can see that the students are first priority.
“When I was there as an assistant principal, Stephanie showed me how important working with sixth and seventh graders is and the impact we can have. She helped me understand the changes students that age are going through. She and Susan Buchanan were instrumental in my development as an administrator.”
Tyson and Har-Ber are the only schools where Scott has been an administrator. He credits retired assistant principals Aaron Harris and Darrel Edmondson as well as current Lakeside principal Michael Shepherd for encouraging him to become an assistant principal.
“Aaron, Darrel and Michael were assistant principals when I was teaching and coaching at Har-Ber,” Scott explains. “I talked with each of them. They told me I would know when it was time to make the transition to administration. They told me to be sure I was ready to move out of the classroom before making the transition.”
After the 2012 football season Scott approached Har-Ber football coach Chris Wood to tell him his eventual goal was to be a principal. Wood understood, encouraged Scott and the opening as assistant principal at Tyson Middle School was posted that spring.
Before becoming an assistant principal, Scott was more than content teaching history and coaching football. He was an assistant for Fred Hartsfield at Central Junior High while he taught civics, American history and pre-ap civics.
“I enjoyed the classroom,” Scott says. “The classroom was an escape from coaching and coaching was an escape from the classroom. I wouldn’t have wanted to do one without the other.
“I learned a lot from Coach Hartsfield. I’ve never met a more fair individual. He had outstanding character. He taught every eighth grader how to throw a football, no matter what position he played. At first I didn’t understand that but his theory was you never knew what position a player would eventually play. Plus, he considered their lives after football. He knew they would someday have kids of their own and would want to play catch with their sons. Looking back, I totally get it.”
As much as he appreciated working with Hartsfield at Central, Scott wanted to coach at the high school level. Har-Ber opened in the fall of 2006 and Scott was able to join Wood’s staff in time for the 2008 season. He was an assistant coach for five years, including 2009 when Har-Ber won the state championship.
“I wasn’t there for Har-Ber’s first year but I still felt like a part of the beginning of the Har-Ber culture,” says Scott, who taught world history and also was an assistant track coach. “Everyone on the staff took great ownership in the school. They all wanted it to be successful. I was impressed by the original staff, how hard they worked and how they cheered each other on. It was a tight knit group.”
What was Scott’s path to eventually joining the Springdale School district nearly two decades ago? Did he always want to teach?
“I was going to be a child psychologist,” Scott responds. “I majored in psychology for three and a half years at the University of Arkansas. But, I also loved history so I switched to a history major. That’s why it took me five years to graduate. I got into the MAT program and was in the same cohort as Shannon Tisher (district assistant superintendent). I interned at Central Junior High, J.O. Kelly and Springdale High School and learned a great deal from each of those experiences.”
When he finished at the UA, he applied for a job at Central. He admits he wasn’t Central’s first choice.
“Rex Webb was retiring as an assistant football coach and history teacher so I applied for that position,” Scott says. “Their first and second choices didn’t work out so I got the call. I’m very grateful I did.”
Not only was Scott grateful because it was his first job in public education but also because he was a newlywed.
“My wife, Sandra, and I had dated for three years and we got married after I finished the MAT,” Scott says. “We were married at Gaston’s on the White River. It was absolutely beautiful. We went to the Cayman Islands on our honeymoon. Three years ago we took out kids to the Cayman Islands and showed them where we had honeymooned. A lot of things were similar.”
It made sense Patrick and Sandra would take their son, Braxton, and daughter, Maci, to their happy honeymoon location since they “enjoy being part of our kids’ lives. Braxton is a junior at Har-Ber and plays football. Maci will be in the seventh grade at Tyson Middle School. She likes volleyball, cheer and acting. She was in two virtual musicals this year and was really good in the Walker Elementary talent show a couple years ago.”
Maci isn’t the first in the family to enjoy acting. Patrick was actually in three plays in high school.
“I was quiet and shy growing up,” Scott says. “I was not talkative at all in the classroom. But, in performance-based situations I was a different person. I played the trumpet in the band for a while and was in theater in high school. I was in three plays. I was a doctor in one and had quite a few lines. I was a prop in the other two.”
Scott also played football, golf, baseball, basketball (“for a while”) and ran track at Yellville High School, where there were 53 in his graduating class. He says, “If it could be done, I wanted to do it.”
He was driven by a work ethic his parents established early in his life. He dad was a pharmacist and worked six days a week. His mother taught sixth grade from the time Scott was 12 years old. He and his brother had to take care of themselves much of the time.
“My mom got her education degree from School of the Ozarks in Branson while my brother and I were young,” Scott remembers. “Dad owned his own pharmacy and worked very hard. We had no choice but to work hard. I started working at the drug store when I was seven, sweeping and mopping the floors. By the time I was nine or 10 I was waiting on customers. I learned the importance of customer service.
“At home, my brother and I learned to cook, do laundry, iron and take care of the house. We did that so mom could go to school. It gave us a strong work ethic.”
His work ethic is still strong but he and his family do enjoy getaways.
“Sandra’s dad has been a White River guide for 40 years and we love for him to take us fishing,” Scott says. “We go to Razorback football, basketball and baseball games any time we can. We take a summer vacation together, too. We really like time together.”
Like Scott’s dad, Sandra has her own business. She is a cosmetologist and has a successful salon in Fayetteville.
Now Scott is ready for the new challenge of being a principal. He says, “I want school to be a great experience for every student. We want to inspire them to do whatever they want to do in life.”
Welcome Patrick Scott to the group of outstanding principals who help make Springdale Public Schools #THEChoice.