CUMMING—Jake Rodgers has been named the new head of school at Pinecrest Academy for the 2021-22 school year. He will officially begin July 1.

Born in San Antonio and raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, Rodgers came from a family of educators. His dad was a head of school, school administrator and high school principal. His mother was an English teacher and college counselor.

“I realized the profound impact that my teachers had on me and I wanted to pursue a career that I felt would make a difference,” said Rodgers. “I wanted to have an impact on others.”

Jake Rodgers

Rodgers holds a M.Ed in independent school leadership from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College, where he was awarded the Peabody Honors Scholarship. He has a Master of Arts degree in humanities from the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas.

Growing up in an evangelical Christian home, he began discerning Catholicism while attending the University of Dallas. He spent time with other Catholics and read books by Catholic authors, including St. John Neumann. He became Catholic in 2016.

“In many respects, I already thought like and believed like a Catholic,” said Rodgers. It was very powerful when being received into the church to have that confirmation, he said.

Rodgers is currently the principal of Sacred Heart Cathedral School, a preschool through eighth grade Catholic school in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is a fellow of the University of Notre Dame’s Reform Leadership Summit and was named a member of the “Top 40 Under 40” class by the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Prior to Sacred Heart, he worked as an 11th grade AP English teacher and grade level dean at Knoxville Catholic High School, as well as an English teacher, grade level dean, basketball coach and interim assistant upper school principal at St. David’s School, a pre K-12 school in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Rodgers will succeed Beth Howard, a member of the school’s board of directors, who has served as interim head of school since spring 2020. A smooth transition and continuity in the school’s strategic plan will be Rodgers’ immediate focus.

“I am thrilled to be Pinecrest Academy’s next head of school,” said Rodgers. “It’s very strong Catholic identity was something that I felt was really important. It really excites me to be a part of a school that knows what’s really important in education and knows that the purpose of it is ultimately to help students on their walk with Jesus.”

Rodgers looks forward to building relationships with the Pinecrest community, including faculty, students and families. I’m “super excited about the future of the school and the fact that I have a chance to be part of such a dynamic institution,” he said.

Rodgers will bring “excellence in all areas of integral formation that our students and families expect,” said Mark Doxtader, Pinecrest Academy chairman of the board of directors. “Equally important, Jake has proven to be a community builder and will focus on humbly supporting our most important asset, our faculty and staff. Jake is a leader that will help take Pinecrest to the next level.”

While Rodgers will miss the Catholic community in Knoxville and the Smoky Mountain National Park, he looks forward to moving to Atlanta and being closer to family.

He and his wife, Rachel, are the parents of three-year-old Cate and are expecting their second child in late April. A former collegiate athlete, Rodgers enjoys running, fly fishing and reading. The Rodgers family will be relocating to the Cumming area in early summer.