Third in a series
Carroll Academy’s new headmaster, Barry Finnie, is eager to welcome the school year when classes start Monday.
Finnie started the job earlier this summer after having spent a year as the head of Greenville Christian School. He also spent nearly a decade as headmaster of Delta Academy in Marks.
“Really, things get easier when school starts,” he said. “Everybody thinks that you have the summer off. That’s as far from the truth as it can be. There’s plenty of things to do.”
Even after years of experience leading schools, he said he is anxious to see how he does at Carroll Academy. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to get out of school, and now I go back every day,” he quipped.
“I’m really hoping that everyone’s ready to get started,” he said. “I’m hopeful that things will go well.”
Finnie, who also spent several years as a coach, was worried he would have to take on the jobs of athletic director and basketball coach, which were vacant when he started. Fortunately, he found and hired Jeff Dalton for both roles. “The athletic director is a little different than what I’m used to,” Finnie said. “I was the athletic director at Delta, and it wasn’t that big of a deal. Here, they’ve got all kinds of things that the athletic director is responsible for. A lot of it is just busy work, but it’s nothing that (Dalton) can’t handle.”
Football and basketball practices are underway.
Carroll’s open house will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, followed by “Meet the Rebels” at Gordon Field.
“Finally got all the positions filled, which obviously feels good,” Finnie said. “Now making sure that we’ve got seniors in the right room. Making sure the classes aren’t too small (and) that the classes can hold everybody. Going to do a little shuffling around, but I think we’ve got all that pretty much covered.”
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
