Dr. Richard Turner will be retiring from his position as principal of William Byrd High School at the end of the school year. The announcement was made at the Roanoke County School Board meeting on March 10.
Turner began his career in education as a marketing teacher in Career and Technical Education (CTE) and will return to those roots in his retirement program by partnering with the business community to develop programs which prepare students to be “job-ready and opportunity-ready” when they graduate from high school.
School Superintendent Dr. Greg Killough says that Dr. Turner has a good skillset for this project which will be very beneficial to the school system and will help students to develop career pathways.
“This will be a great fit for Dr. Turner and Roanoke County,” said Killough.
Dr. Turner was named as assistant principal at WBHS in 1992, serving under Dr. Bob Patterson, before being appointed principal in 1999. The two men have served as the leadership of WBHS for about 52 years.
Dr. Turner is well-known for his “Accept only the best at WBHS” slogan and for his efforts to engage students in community service, especially in the Vinton Relay for Life (as a cancer survivor himself) and with the Salvation Army Turning Point and Red Kettle programs. His interest in amateur “ham” radio led to the establishment of an award winning club at WBHS.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the county’s only JROTC program which is located at William Byrd and the nationally acclaimed “High Schools That Work” program.
