Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical Schools proudly announces the addition of a new administrative position that will better serve its students in unique ways, and the individual that will take on those responsibilities. Currently Eastland Career Center assistant director, Mr. Dwight Carter, has been named EFCTS’s first Director of Student Support Services. In addition, EFCTS and Groveport High School graduate, Ms. Dakia Washington, has been named Fairfield Career Center’s second assistant director.
The Director of Student Support Services position and the appointment of both Mr. Carter and Ms. Washington was approved by the EFCTS Board of Education on Wednesday, April 21, 2021, at their regularly scheduled meeting. Carter and Washington will officially assume their new roles on August 1, 2021.
In his role as Director of Student Support Services, Carter will be responsible for developing, implementing, managing, and supporting a positive environment and positive behavior. He will assume oversight of support systems for students, including in the areas of Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS), special education, English language learners, gifted education, social/emotional learning, mental and physical wellbeing, and supporting our understanding and appreciation of our diversity.
Carter served as assistant director at Eastland Career Center since July 2019 and has demonstrated additional success as an author, coach and speaker. He is a nationally-recognized school leader with 27 years of educational experience as a teacher and principal in the Gahanna and New Albany school districts. He has been named Principal of the Year by three national organizations, has co-authored three books and continues to contribute toward multiple educational publications. In 2010, Carter was named to the Jostens Renaissance National Educators Hall of Fame and is a 2021 Columbus Africentric Early College Sankofa Emerging Leader award winner. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Comprehensive Social Studies and Education from Wittenberg University and a Masters of Education from Ashland University.
Eastland-Fairfield Superintendent and CEO, Dr. Kimberley Pietsch Miller, said of Mr. Carter, “Dwight has a passion for ensuring students have opportunities to achieve their goals by connecting them to the support services that they need to be successful. His knowledge and experience working with staff, students, and families in the areas of diversity, equity, and positive behavior supports are especially important as we continue to grow in our diversity serving 16 school districts in a growing region.”
Joining Fairfield Career Center as its second assistant director will be Ms. Dakia Washington, who joins Eastland-Fairfield after spending the last 11 years teaching between the early childhood and high school levels. Washington is finishing her sixth year as the Lead Intervention Specialist, Case Manager and MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports) Lead at Reynoldsburg City Schools.
Washington is an Eastland-Fairfield success story having graduated from the Information Systems program and Groveport High School in 2004. She began her teaching career in 2010 at the Dayton Christian Center (Dayton, Ohio) as its Lead Toddler Teacher. The following year, Washington moved on to the Pinnacle Academy (Cleveland, Ohio) as a K-12 special education paraprofessional, a post she held for more than two years. In 2013, Washington returned to Central Ohio after accepting a special education teaching position at Graham Expeditionary Middle School in Columbus before moving to Reynoldsburg in 2015. Washington holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Wright State University and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Cleveland State University. She is currently working towards her Doctorate of Philosophy in Education with a specialization in special education leadership from Capella University (Minn.).
“Ms. Washington impressed the interview committee and me with her diverse experiences and skills as well as her strong work ethic and commitment to developing students. Her experience in the special education field will also be extremely valuable to both Fairfield Career Center and our district as a whole,” said Miller.