Ronald Gadson, the principal at Radium Springs Middle School, will step down as principal at the end of the school year.  West Town Elementary School Principal Steven Dudley will become the school’s new principal.

Gadson is a career educator with a distinguished career as both a teacher and administrator. He previously served in the Dougherty County School System as a teacher and instructional coach at Southside Middle School, and as an assistant principal at the South Georgia Regional Achievement Center.

Superintendent Kenneth Dyer called Gadson a talented educator who has been an asset to the DCSS family.

“I’m grateful for Mr. Gadson’s leadership and the work he’s done on behalf of our children. When he informed me that he would be stepping down, I was temporarily at a loss for how the district could replace someone with so much knowledge and experience in such a critical role,” Dyer said. “After giving it due consideration, however, it became clear to me that Mr. Dudley is the right person to lead Radium Springs Middle at this time.”

Dudley, who has served as an assistant principal at Southside Middle School, Monroe Comprehensive High School and as principal at West Town Elementary School, will take over operations during the summer and kick off his administration when school starts in August.

"I'm extremely grateful for the ability to make a positive impact on the students at Radium," Dudley said. "It's bittersweet because West Town holds a special place in my heart and we've been able to do some incredible things here for our students due to the hard work of our teachers and staff, but I'm excited to take on the opportunities at Radium."

Alongside his teachers and support staff at West Town, Dudley helped transform West Town into one of the district’s fastest-improving elementary schools. With a focus on literacy, Dudley and his team were able to garner support from the fellow schools in his cluster and his partners in excellence to develop the Leaping Lexiles program, which provided incentives for students who met or exceeded literacy levels.

For the last two years, the school has been named to the state’s “Beating the Odds” schools list, which honors schools who are outperforming their peers across Georgia with similar student populations.

For its impact on improving student literacy, West Town was chosen as the recipient for the area’s first-ever Sandra Deal Literacy Prize - named for former Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal. Dudley was also chosen as the recipient of the 2019 Superintendent’s Leadership Award for outstanding educational leadership in a DCSS school.

“Mr. Dudley has all of the attributes that one looks for in an educational leader,” Dyer said. “He has a heart for his students, he motivates and inspires his employees and he understands the importance of building support in the community for his school. This work has translated into higher student achievement and a transformed school culture. I’m excited to see him bring those same principles with him to Radium.”

The district will conduct a formal search process to find Dudley’s replacement at West Town prior to the start of the next school year.