Megan Cover will join Girls Preparatory School as head of school July 1. Cover brings years of experience as both teacher and school leader to GPS.
During a 20-year tenure at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Delaware, Cover served as a French and Spanish teacher and language department chair, created the lower school Spanish program, served as assistant head of upper school and dean of students, and coached field hockey and lacrosse.
Cover holds a degree in French with a minor in education from Denison University and master’s degrees from West Chester University (Spanish) and Middlebury College (French).
An all-girls school alumna (The Agnes Irwin School in Rosemont, Pennsylvania), Cover steps into the leadership role as the 10th GPS head of school.
She will be moving to Chattanooga with her husband of 22 years, Ted, and their three daughters.
Kirk Walker will continue as GPS interim head of school through the end of the 2020-21 school year.
Robotic prostate surgeon joins CHI Memorial Urology Associates
Lee Jackson, M.D., is joining CHI Memorial Urology Associates. Jackson has been with CHI Memorial more than 10 years and has performed nearly 1,800 robotic procedures using the da Vinci robotic prostate surgical system.
Jackson received his medical degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He completed his residency in general surgery and urology and fellowship in renal transplantation and renovascular surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. Jackson is board-certified by the American Board of Urology.
In addition to being a robotic prostate cancer surgeon, Jackson also serves as surgery service line medical director for CHI Memorial.
Jackson’s office is located at 1300 Cleveland Ave. in Chattanooga.
Chattanooga Prep promotes two to C-Level
Chattanooga Prep has promoted two employees, Brad Scott and Micah Reed, to CEO and chief operating officer, respectively. Scott currently serves as head of school and Reed serves as director of operations.
Since coming to Chattanooga Prep in April 2019, Scott has focused on recruitment and staffing. Previously, he was a founding school principal and senior leadership executive council member for IDEA Public Schools in Edinburg, Texas. Scott is a native of Chattanooga.
Reed began with Chattanooga Prep in 2017 as development coordinator. She has assisted the school on fundraising and operations.
Before Chattanooga Prep, Reed was the administrative services director for the Patrick Henry and Atlee Station YMCAs in Hanover County, Virginia. She relocated to Chattanooga from Richmond, Virginia, in 2017.
Chattanooga Prep is an all-male public charter school in Highland Park. It currently has grades 6-8th and will open a high school in fall 2021.
Department of Public Works names Payne interim administrator
Chattanooga Public Works City engineer Bill Payne will serve as the interim administrator of the Department of Public Works.
A native Chattanoogan, Payne joined the city in 1995 and has more than 28 years of experience in the design and construction of public infrastructure and environmental sustainability. He is taking over as interim administrator after Justin Holland departed the city for an opportunity with Jacobs Engineering.
During his time with the city, Payne has worked on downtown streetscape improvements, water quality management and permitting, drainage improvements, stream restorations, wetland conservation and landfill expansion.
Additionally, he oversaw more than $400 million in state and local infrastructure investment to support job creation at the Volkswagen plant.
Payne is a graduate of Tyner High School and received a degree in civil engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He resides in Middle Valley with his wife of 25 years, Angie, and their children Victoria, 13, and Calvin, 8.