She hopes to shine a light on rural schools, school leaders and student pride.

As an undergraduate, Tracie Swilley initially majored in elementary education after an inspiring encounter with a college professor. Mathematics came alive, and Swilley wanted students to feel that same inspiration and encouragement. She quickly realized that secondary education was a better fit, and since then her passion for high school education has only grown.

Swilley began her career at Richland Northeast High School as a math educator. She had wonderful administrators act as mentors, and Swilley was able to use her data analytics skills to serve her administration. One of her assistant principals encouraged her to continue her education, so she enrolled in the Master’s of Education Administration at the University of South Carolina.

“I loved my master’s program,” says Swilley. “It was very practical. Everything I learned had immediate application. I even got to study with one of my former assistant principals, Diane Harwell. Everyone who taught in the program had career experience in school leadership. I will always remember the scenarios we worked through, and I left with a wealth of knowledge and a toolkit ready to be used on my own administrative journey. My foundation as an administrator came from the University of South Carolina.”

Swilley’s career took her back to her own alma mater, Lower Richland High School, as an assistant principal. She is currently principal of Fairfield Central High School and is the 2025 National High School Principal of the Year. This elite designation from the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) puts both Swilley and her school on the national stage. The whirlwind process began with Swilley being named South Carolina Principal of the Year last December.

“I received the state designation while dressed as the Grinch during spirit week last December,” says Swilley. “Over the summer, I got an interview request from NASSP about principals’ summer activities. I stepped out of an administrative retreat to talk with the team and was surprised to learn that I was not sharing my summer story but was a top three finalist for National Principal of the Year!”

Swilley had to return to the retreat and keep the exciting information secret for more than a month. The next secret was a little harder to keep quiet. The national interviews happened during the first week of school for her district.

“I still could not tell anyone what I was up to,” says Swilley. “My staff knew I would never miss a day during the first full week of school, but I let them know I was representing South Carolina at a conference, and they bought my story.”

Her superintendent was informed that she was a finalist in early September. He surprised her at school and made the announcement over the loudspeaker.

“You could hear cheers from the classroom,” says Swilley. “It was a good feeling. I call the two other finalists my brothers. There are no losers in this competition because we represent great work in all 50 states. Everyone is doing amazing things; I just had to tell our story and see where it went.”

Swilley did not know the outcome until she attended the NASSP gala in Washington, D.C. in October. She had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Department of Education and toured the White House with her fellow nominees. After recognizing the best of the best from each state, it was time for Swilley’s video. Her daughter is a freshman at her school and kicked off the video with a, “Congratulations Mom!” The video continued with every department in her school sharing their congratulations — Swilley was National Principal of the Year.

Swilley shares that her staff and students are equally responsible for this amazing achievement.

“We earned our highest school ranking in our school’s history this year,” says Swilley. “Despite being a rural school, this work is a testament to us all. My students and staff are buying in, trusting the process and collaborating. I’m so excited to share our journey of all that we have overcome.”

Swilley points out that education is not a solo mission.

“Many principals come in and feel like everything is up to them,” says Swilley. “You put the ‘S’ on your chest to do it all. I learned that collaboration is essential to success. The biggest thing I’ve learned is to let my students have a voice.”

Swilley shares that just as adults want to choose to buy in, students need that process as well.

“I tell them to own the fact that this is their school,” says Swilley. “When people are talking about Fairfield Central, they are talking about you. They are not talking about the bricks of the building; they are talking about the people inside. I needed them to have pride in their school, and to do that, they needed a voice.”

Swilley was able to create student voice groups with the help of the College of Education, and that work is continuing under Professor Daniella Cook. Through this work, she was able to shift the mindset of both students and staff toward positive outcomes and away from punitive ones. She exhibits and teaches the behaviors they want to see.

“My philosophy is that all students can achieve, given proper assistance and support,” says Swilley.

Swilley also wants to use this role to advocate for fellow principals. She says that often in our goal of building up students and teachers, we forget that principals need encouragement as well.

“We have to make sure that we recognize that public education will serve the majority of the students in our state and nation,” says Swilley. “We need to advocate for our schools and take care of them. I’m excited to have a seat representing our state, my fellow school leaders, women and people of color. If I could go back to my first day as principal, I would tell myself to trust my people, trust the process, work hard and display Griffin pride.”

It is safe to say that for her school and her state, Principal Swilley is living her motto well.