Superintendent Alvin L. Crawley has appointed Peter Balas as the new Principal of T.C. Williams High School, citing proven strong leadership skills and academic experience as the reason for the choice.Balas has spent the last 15 years of his career with Alexandria City Public Schools, including five years as an administrator at T.C. Williams High School. He spent two years as an Executive Associate Principal at T.C. Williams before leaving to transform Mount Vernon Community School into Alexandria’s first full K-5 Dual Language Program school.
He will now return to T.C. Williams as its principal in July, when Dr. Jesse Dingle departs for Ashville, North Carolina.
“We are delighted to see such a proven inspirational and motivational leader like Peter lead T.C. Williams. He brings many years of experience as a classroom teacher and administrator at the secondary level to the role as well as a genuine understanding of the community. We are confident that he will be an asset to T.C. Williams for many years to come,” said Dr. Crawley.
Balas is dedicated to ensuring that rigor, engagement and cultural responsiveness are a fundamental part of all classrooms and programs. He is eager to begin the work of assessing SOL testing data and performance targets while expanding the use of performance targets and project-based learning.
“I believe that I bring a combination of insight, experience and sustained relationship with T.C. Williams and its students, staff, parents and community to this role. I am what can be considered an ‘insider’ – someone who has experienced and understands the complexity and organizational structure of the school,” Balas said.
As a former T.C. administrator and 15-year employee of ACPS, Balas will not have the steep learning curve that might otherwise have been a challenge. Information gathered through the community feedback process was used at all stages of the selection process. As Alexandria’s only public high school, it was felt that all parts of the community have a stake in the outcome of the process.
“My vision is to create a genuine learning community in which personalized learning, differentiation, and customization for high performance is the standard. Under my leadership, T.C. Williams can truly realize its potential as Virginia’s largest comprehensive high school,” said Balas.
