HCS names new assistant principals

Homewood City Schools recently announced three assistant principals for the 2022-2023 school year: John Dorough at Homewood Middle, Ganae Gaines at Homewood High and Lindsay Galafassi at Shades Cahaba Elementary.

John Dorough will serve as Homewood Middle School’s assistant principal starting July 1. Dorough currently serves as Edgewood Elementary School’s physical education teacher. With 25 years of experience in education, he has worked with middle school and high school students for many years. Currently, Dorough is the middle school’s head baseball coach and seventh grade basketball coach.

As a teacher and coach, Dorough has worked to connect with his students to help motivate them to work hard in all they do and find their passion for learning. Each year, Dorough looked for a way to empower all students to make good choices while focusing on their health and wellness while raising life-saving donations to help kids facing heart-health issues. Through school-wide activities, he was able to lead Edgewood in raising over $55,000 for the American Heart Association this year.

At HMS, the baseball team won the 2022 league championship under Dorough’s leadership. This was the first baseball championship for HMS since 2003 and the fourth in school history. The team finished the season with 17 wins and only 1 loss.

Dorough earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from Samford University and his master’s in education leadership from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. 

Homewood High School will welcome Ganae Gaines as the school’s assistant principal starting July 1. Gaines joins the Homewood community from Pell City High School where she currently serves as an assistant principal. She has served as an administrator for four years with experience in school discipline, development of school safety plans and procedures and implementation of curricular and instructional strategies to increase student achievement.

Gaines began her career in education 10 years ago as a high school teacher. She taught forensics, anatomy/physiology, environmental science, as well as pre-AP and AP biology. She has also served as an adjunct biology and anatomy professor at Talladega College. 

While at Pell City High, she was nominated to serve on Leadership St. Clair, a program in St. Clair County where members are selected based on their leadership abilities, career accomplishments, volunteer activities, contributions to their communities and commitment to help shape a better community.

Gaines earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Talladega College, her master’s degree in biology education from Jacksonville State University, and her educational leadership degree from the University of Alabama. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree with a focus on educational leadership from Capella University. 

Shades Cahaba Elementary School will welcome back Lindsay Galafassi as the school’s assistant principal for instruction (API) starting July 1. Galafassi has served as a Technology Specialist for Edgewood and Shades Cahaba for the past seven years. 

Galafassi began her career in Homewood as a fifth grade teacher at Edgewood Elementary and has 13 years of experience in education. Throughout her time as a teacher and technology specialist, she has assisted teachers and students in the use of differentiated instruction through technology integration. She has led professional development sessions, provided technical support, and assisted with the implementation of new technologies.

Currently, she serves on the Homewood City Schools Innovation and Leadership Team and is a member of Alabama Leaders in Educational Technology. Galafassi has also participated in a year-long process focusing on standards for the use of technology in teaching and learning to earn her certificate as a Alabama Technology Integration Coach. 

She received her bachelor’s degree from Auburn University. She earned her master’s degree in elementary education, her educational specialist degree in instructional technology and her instructional leadership certificate from the University of Montevallo.

--Submitted by Merrick Wilson