As an educator and an individual, Cynthia Hewitt values the cultivation of meaningful interpersonal relationships – positive relationships drive collaboration and foster success.
Within the context of a school environment, developing meaningful partnerships is a strength she has utilized for most of her career in education, first as a school counselor, then as a teacher and finally as an assistant principal, and it is one she will continue to employ in her next leadership position as the new principal of Aiken Elementary School.
Aiken County Board of Education members approved Hewitt’s appointment as the new principal at Aiken Elementary School for the 2018-19 school year during the April 17 regularly scheduled meeting held at Wagener-Salley High School.
Hewitt currently serves as an assistant principal at Gloverville Elementary School.
“I am very honored and excited to have this opportunity,” Hewitt stated Tuesday. “I worked at Aiken Elementary previously for nine years, and I am just honored to return and lead them as the school’s principal. It is bittersweet for me, really, because I absolutely adore Gloverville Elementary, but in my heart it was time to move along in my career professionally, and I was ready to be a building principal.”
Hewitt’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and a Masters of Education in school counseling from Clemson University, and a Masters of Education in Educational leadership from the University of Phoenix.
Prior to serving as an assistant principal at Gloverville Elementary, Hewitt served as a school counselor at Aiken Elementary. She has also served as a classroom teacher at North Augusta Elementary, and as a school counselor at Springfield Elementary in Charleston, South Carolina.
Hewitt says her many years of work as a counselor has uniquely prepared her for the new position as a building and community leader, where she will strive to enhance school culture at Aiken Elementary.
“I definitely believe having been a school counselor has helped me to be a very effective administrator,” Hewitt commented. “Empathy is something that I believe you are born with, and it is something that has to be genuine and from the heart. I use my counseling skills a lot, because as a leader those people skills are so important. Getting to know the whole person – whether it be a student or faculty member – it all starts with those genuine relationships.”
Before the start of the 2018-19 school year, Hewitt says she will focus on developing school culture and instructional pieces to foster future academic growth at Aiken Elementary.
“I want to cultivate a culture in which everyone understands we are all working together. One that will help all students be successful and grow, while also developing them as future-ready students. I believe that starts with building relationships,” Hewitt stated. “I want to get to know everyone, and really develop that school culture. Then I want to look at those systems and instructional practices and see what we can do to improve in those areas.”
Hewitt will begin her duties as Aiken Elementary principal in July.
LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2018 PR AIKEN ELEM PRINCIPAL