When Whitewater High School’s seniors parade across the stage on May 26, they’ll receive diplomas and congratulations from principal Roy Rabold. But this year, Rabold is giving himself something, too: his walking papers.
After 42 years in education — 29 of them in Fayette County — Rabold is retiring. His departure comes just as Whitewater earned a silver medal on U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 list of Best High Schools, ranking 35th in Georgia.
The honors framed on his office wall only hint at the depth of his tenure. He says no one thing prompted his retirement, but he’s 66 and just decided it was time. “The kids don’t need someone thinking like an old man,” he says.
Rabold majored in accounting but developed a love of history thanks to family trips and an inspiring teacher. He began his career in 1975 teaching social studies, first in Florida and then in Georgia at North Clayton High School. In 1987, his colleague, Linda Jones, encouraged him to apply for an assistant principal position at the new Mt. Zion High School, where she would be principal.
Rabold interviewed for an assistant principal opening at McIntosh High in Peachtree City just for practice, but was offered the job. He wanted to make a positive difference for “the kids who get sent to the office” and need extra support.
Aside from a one-year assignment as McIntosh’s acting principal, Rabold waited nine years before feeling ready to lead a school of his own. In 1993, he transferred to Sandy Creek High and became its principal in 2001 before arriving at Whitewater in 2011.
Rabold has seen a lot of changes in the school system over the years, but still believes the “triangle of success” occurs when parents, students and schools work together.
“I think we’re still doing the same good job we always have,” he says, but acknowledges that students today feel more pressure from having so many after-school activities in addition to their academics.
“Schools are a reflection of society,” he says, concerned about omnipresent cellphones, shorter attention spans and the role of social media in fueling student anxiety.
He earned a reputation for being strict — kids once nicknamed him “RaboCop” — but expects his students to be good citizens and ask themselves, “What would my mother say if I did this?”
Steve Greene, now principal at J. C. Booth Middle, remembers Rabold as his football coach at McIntosh. “He was not one to yell or even have a lot of words,” he says, “(but) when he spoke, he commanded attention. I respected him immensely, and still do.”
Former Starr’s Mill principal Sam Sweat praises Rabold as “extremely strong in the area of professional learning for his teachers. The Fayette County school system will miss his leadership.”
Rabold admits he’ll miss the kids, but his only immediate plans include dog sitting for his daughter and visiting his parents in Florida. Come August, he shrugs, “We’ll see.”
He doesn’t seem too interested in the pomp, but he welcomes the circumstance.
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