The Principals of Cary High
September 3, 2010 - Cary High has had strong leadership over the years. In the entry hallway at the school is a portrait of Marcus Dry, one of the school’s early long time principals during its days on Academy Street.Cary High Principals
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Doug Holleman, Class of 1941, said Mr. Dry was one of a kind.
“He lived right next door to the school,” said Holleman. “The teachers would eat at Mr. Dry’s house. There was a guy who worked in the cafeteria would come out and ring the bell letting them know it was time to eat.”
Holleman noted that at that time the teachers were living in what had earlier served as the school’s student dormitories. Dry served as principal for 34 years and was retiring as World War II began. Bob Heater, Class of 1947, recalls that the war affected school leadership.
“Mr. Dry was there to start with and then we had two or three principals,” said Heater. “Mr. Fry was there. And the last one was Mr. Franklin. You see that was during the war, things kept moving. We had three teachers in one math class in one year because they would get drafted.”
Guy Mendenhall, Class of 1954, remembers Principal Paul Cooper who served from the 1940s into the 1950s when Mendenhall was a student and then helped move the high school to the Walnut Street site in the 1960s.
“The one thing we remember about Mr. Cooper, he had a lot of keys,” said Mendenhall. “And you would hear those keys jingle before you saw him. And if you were doing something you weren’t supposed to, you straightened up because here came the keys and Mr. Cooper behind them.”
The current football stadium was named Cooper Field to honor Mr. Cooper who served until 1967. That’s when John Stevens arrived. Susan Moore Blackley is a member of the Class of 1970 and remembers him.
“John Stevens was principal and I think he had just come on board,” said Blackley who was a freshman in 1967. “I felt like he was easy to get along with and nice to know. I was the treasurer of the student council and we ran the school store, so I had to report mainly to the office and got to know the office staff very well. Not in a bad, in a good way.”
Cary High was then led by Dr. Ramey Beavers from 1985 to 1992 and Dr. Donna Hargens from 1992 to 1999. Both went on to serve as school district administrators. Hargens is the current interim Superintendent.
In recent years, the high school has been led by Dave Coley, David Dennis and Doug Thilman. Thilman has been principal since 2008.
 Marcus B Dry |
 Paul W. Cooper |
 John Stevens |