10/13/2026
National Principal's Month continues throughout October, and today we catch up with Mr. David Carpenter of Jeter Primary School!
Q: What inspired you to enter education and how did you progress to your role as principal?
A: "I've always been a teacher at heart. The few years that I wasn't, I was miserable. Just working with kids led me back into education. I was a fifth-grade teacher, then that led me to sixth and seventh and then instructional coach and now principal. I just love teaching."
Q: What is something you're especially proud of at Jeter this year?
A: "We've had a complete makeover. The board provided us a great new facility to come to every day and work in - new flooring, new walls. It's been fun to be able to enjoy this. I'm excited about the new hires we have. We've got some great new teachers in place. This is my 11th year at Jeter, so I picked my team, so to speak. It's just getting a good team in place. When you come into work and you've got a good team, you know it's going to be a good day."
Q: What is something you want the Opelika community to know about what principals do every day?
A: "I think a lot of folks grew up with principals where they're basically building managers - they weren't really visible and a big part of the kids' daily lives. But this role now, we're in the classrooms every chance we get. In the past, if you had to go to the principal's office, it was for something bad. Now we want to make it much more like we're one big team working together. I try to get out there with the kids and be involved with them as much as possible."
