Press Release from RH School District: Bill Cook, Jr. has been selected as superintendent-elect of Rock Hill Schools, it was announced tonight during the April 9th school board work session held in the district’s new Central Office.
Cook will succeed Dr. Kelly Pew who recently announced her departure to return the Upstate where she will serve as an assistant superintendent in Anderson School District One.
A veteran educator and accomplished administrator whose career spans more than 27 years in North and South Carolina, Cook will become superintendent of Rock Hill Schools on July 1.
Dr. Cook joined Rock Hill Schools in January 2016 and he has served the district as the executive director of secondary education for the past two years. Before coming to Rock Hill, Cook served as the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in Gaston County Schools (N.C.), which is the ninth largest school district in North Carolina with approximately 32,000 students. In that role, he oversaw all areas of curriculum and instruction including budgeting and allocation of financial resources and facilitated a career and technology education (CTE) committee that had a focus on studying the expansion of CTE programs and opportunities in GCS.
Cook began his career in 1987 as a marketing teacher at Sun Valley High School where he taught for six years before moving into administration. He has completed stints as either an assistant principal or principal at five schools in Union County (N.C.) Public Schools, including seven years at Marvin Ridge High School where the school achieved the highest performance scores of all North Carolina comprehensive high schools. There, he also facilitated the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Program to strengthen curricular offerings. While principal of Walter Bickett Elementary School in 2004, Cook was named the UCPS Principal of the Year and North Carolina Southwest Regional Principal of the Year.
Dr. Cook holds a B.S. in Business Education and M.A. in Educational Administration from East Carolina University and Ed.S. in Educational Leadership and Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Wingate University.
