When Phillip Powell was principal of Commerce Middle School, the students could choose a task for him if they performed well on the Georgia Milestones.
Some were outlandish.
One time, he agreed to sumo wrestle the assistant principal. Another time, he had to eat dead tarantulas. And then, there was a hot wing challenge.
“They’re going to remember that crazy middle school principal that just went above and beyond to get them motivated to learn their entire life,” said Joy Tolbert, a former Commerce City Schools superintendent who oversaw much of Powell’s growth in the school system.
Powell was hired this spring to replace Beverley Levine as the superintendent of Oglethorpe County Schools.
He quickly started transitioning into his new job, and began to assume responsibilities and assemble a new central office staff even though Levine didn’t officially retire until June 30.
Powell spent Tuesday in a team meeting with his staff as it prepares for the new school year. Teachers start on Monday, Aug. 3 and the first day for students is Friday, Aug. 7.
“He’s one of the hardest working people that I’ve ever worked with, and he’s always excelled in every role that he takes on,” said Dawn Gary, director of student services of Commerce City Schools. “He’s a very passionate leader. He generally cares about people.”
Community pride
He said the biggest traits of the Oglethorpe County School System is how much the community cares about what’s happening in the schools and has pride in its schools and teachers. Powell said he needs to be visible and relatable so the community can come to him for problems and solutions.
Powell has attended BOE meetings since March and has been a constant presence in the central office.
“He understands the importance of building relationships with students and with teachers and parents and community members, and he understands that in a small town, that's a big piece,” Tolbert said.
Building upon his first goal, he wants to create sustainable connections with the community.
“I’d say my priorities right now is getting to build trust and relationships with our community and our teachers. I think that’s the foundation of culture,” he said during an April interview. “When we go into a situation where you’re trying to create change and lift and evolve a school system, none of that is possible. You can’t cast a vision if people don’t believe and trust in what you do.”
Both Gary and Tolbert talked about how dedicated Powell was to the students. This framework translates into the projects he worked on at Commerce, which helped the middle school place in the top 10% in the state the past two years, according to U.S. News & World Report.
“He’s a natural leader, one of the one of those guys that makes you buy in and believe and sort of steers everybody in the right direction,” said Sam Purcell, an eighth-grade math teacher at Commerce Middle.
Change of heart
Although he’s been in education for over 20 years, Powell’s original plan was to be an orthopedic surgeon.
He was teaching an introductory chemistry course as a doctoral student at the University of Florida when he realized he liked it more than his research and discovered his love for education.
Since then, he’s completed a Master of Science in teaching from Florida, a doctorate in education from Walden University, earned a specialist in curriculum and instruction and achieved tier one and two certification.
Powell began his career as a science teacher at Mill Creek High School in 2004 before moving to Franklin County High School in 2013. Powell said he’s taught everything from introductory earth science to advanced placement physics and chemistry.
“I was able to take that love of teaching and learning into an administrative role, where I knew I wanted to make a larger impact than just in my classroom,” Powell said.
In 2017, he landed in Commerce, as the high school’s assistant principal and then became the principal of the middle school in 2020 before eventually becoming the chief academic officer in 2025.
In a BOE meeting, Board Chair Becky Soto described the search as extensive and said they were humbled by candidates who reached out. Powell said his first goal in Oglethorpe County was to meet with every employee of the school system in his first 90 days.
“Everything matters, and everyone matters,” he said. “And so our bus drivers need to be able to communicate to me as much as a director does, so all of us are the ones dealing with kids, so therefore, everyone's opinion needs to be taken into account, and we need to work collaboratively together to address each of these issues as they come up.”
The next step
Tolbert said Powell’s vision is similar to Levine’s: He wants every student to succeed. He wants to build on that foundation.
“Establishing credibility with my teachers, staff and the community, where they feel that I’m following the precedent that Ms. Levine set of ‘I am a part of this community,’” he said. “I care about each of these kids, and we do have a systemic plan, or a systematic plan to elevate and evolve our school system.”
Powell said he’s excited to work with educators and community members who know the value of the school system.
“I think you want that growth to be controlled, and where our school system can address that growth in a positive way, but still meet the needs of all our kids and learners,” Powell said.
He said as long as he is focused on the outcome and does what’s best for the kids, they should experience success.
“Oglethorpe is in a unique position, geographically, being outside of Athens, to where we can have a small community, rural community feel, but be a force, educationally, athletically, extracurricular in this area,” Powell said. “And so what appeals to me always with a job is, can we make a real impact with kids and with the school community and with the teachers, and that was a no brainer for me.”