Daniel Ford
Board members approved Ford's hiring at their meeting Tuesday.
Superintendent Ray Braswell said the district is working with Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district on a timetable for when Ford might take the reins at Denton High.
"We're hoping as time goes on, he'll be with us more and more this year," Braswell said.
Ford said he's excited about his new role.
"The high school atmosphere itself alone is such an invigorating experience," he said. "I'm excited about the challenges, the opportunity, and I'm excited to get in and really meet the kids, the faculty and to bring the community together with the school so that we're all working together to develop our students."
Ford replaces Darrell Muncy, who was named the district's director of student services in November.
Ford's 15-year career in education has included serving as principal of Field Middle School for the last six years, assistant principal at Newman Smith High School in Carrollton from 2004-06, and math teacher at Dan Long Middle School in Dallas from 2001-04.
Field Middle School received recognized status from the Texas Education Agency in 2006, '07, '09 and '10.
Ford is currently pursuing a doctorate at the University of North Texas. He holds a master's degree in administration and a Master of Business Administration degree from Texas Woman's University and a bachelor's in business administration from Southwestern Assemblies of God University. He is a former retail business owner.
More than 100 candidates applied for the Denton High principal job.
Braswell said there was a strong candidate pool, and Ford stood in front of the pack because of his experience. He said there were a lot of commonalities between Ford's instructional leadership and what Denton is working on with its own campus administrators.
"He just seemed to be the right fit for us," Braswell said.
Ford said he found the Denton school district's "progressive thinking" appealing. He's acquainted with some district employees, and he said they often talk about the support they receive from the school district.
"Knowing the support is there, it makes it very inviting for a principal to come in and affect achievement in a positive way," Ford said.
He said his door is open to residents.
"I want them to understand my goals," Ford said. "I want them to understand my No. 1 focus is our students and their success, and in order to achieve that I'm going to work to bring the entire community together to help us reach that goal." BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com.
