FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – Florence School District 1’s school board announced a new principal and athletic director for West Florence High School on Thursday night.
“We were excited to be able to announce tonight that we had voted to approve the administration’s recommendation of Mr. Dowdell as the new Principal at West Florence,” said School Board Chair Barry Townsend.
Matthew Dowdell will be the principal. He had served as the assistant principal.
“Getting new leadership in place at West Florence was obviously a very high priority,” Townsend told News13.
Dowdell replaces Dr. Kelvin Wymbs who had served as the acting principal since the sudden resignation of Pam Quick in February.
“Although our Director of Secondary Education, Dr. Kelvin Wymbs, has done a wonderful job in his role over there, he has other responsibilities,” said Townsend.
The board also announced Greg Johnson as the new athletic director. He’s a former assistant principal for Darlington High School. He replaces Trey Woodberry, who also stepped down.
Townsend said Dr. Wymbs will be available to mentor Mr. Dowdell.
“I feel like Mr. Dowdell’s going to bring a lot of energy to this,” Townsend said. “He has been at West Florence so he understands the school, but he also brings experience from outside of the district as well,” he continued. “I think it’s a really good balance that will hopefully re-energize the school, the staff, the students, and the community. I’m excited for the direction that we’ll be headed with West Florence.”
