In the Know: Mercer School Superintendent Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis and Paul Ellis of Mercer County schools escorted new students on their first day of school several years ago.
Jennifer Marsh
Herald Staff
jmarsh@harrodsburgherald.com
(Editor’s note: This is a weekly series interviewing community leaders to share their thoughts and goals for the community.)
Dennis Davis, superintendent of Mercer County Schools chose to come back to his hometown after college to live.
“I wouldn’t want to be in any other place,” said Davis. “I love this community, the schools, the staff and the students.”
Davis has been superintendent for eight years and says his primary goal is to help students feel as though they belong.
“We do everything we can to help students be prepared for a successful life but we also want them to feel valued as an important part of a community,” said Davis. “We know students are better at academics, attendance and all necessary skills when they are engaged with their school and community.”
Davis said extracurricular and co-curricular activities such as sports, clubs like the Future Farmers of America help engage students.
“These programs add a lot to students and help them become more successful within the school,” said Davis. “We have great kids achieving great things here at Mercer. Sometimes negative things happen, but we truly want every child to be successful.”
Davis said he has many projects planned. The first will be completed before school starts this fall.
“We are replacing all light bulbs with LED bulbs for more efficient electric bills and with the savings we are getting through the LED bulbs we are able to replace the entire HVAC systems at King Middle School and Mercer County Intermediate School,” said Davis. “These upgrades make the schools more energy efficient and that saves us money, but more importantly, it will provide a healthier environment for students and staff.”
Davis said the school administration is constantly working on safe school upgrades along with making regular improvements to buildings.
“We are always looking at the latest research for ways to improve our safe school system,” said Davis. “We are replacing every public address system in the district to allow any staff member to be able to call for a lock down and adding a safety vestibule to the intermediate school.”
Davis said another short-term goal is to provide an electronic device for every student.
“We are very close to a one to one ratio in some schools and we hope to achieve that soon,” said Davis.
Find the rest of the story on page 1A of this week’s issue of the Harrodsburg Herald or click here to to subscribe.
