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Welcome to Our New Principal, Coach Dayatra!

Posted on by jmclaughlin

Coach Dayatra began her educational career in Laurel, Mississippi as a teacher’s assistant at Oak Park Elementary after dedicating a year as assistant basketball coach at her junior college Alma mater.  

She served as a paraprofessional within the Laurel City School District for four years until she accepted the call to become an English teacher and head basketball, volleyball, and track coach at Heidelberg High School in the East Jasper Consolidated School District in Heidelberg, Mississippi.  

Being awarded the Mississippi Power Outstanding New Teacher Award after her first year as a classroom teacher set a precedent for her passion and dedication to those which she serves. While at Heidelberg, Coach Dayatra was nominated teacher of the year and her students earned a 99%  passing average on the state’s writing assessments. She became known as the “English guru” within her professional community. After the completion of year five at Heidelberg High, Coach was afforded the opportunity to go back to her hometown of Laurel, Mississippi to become a teacher and head basketball/track coach at her high school Alma Mater. Coach continued to make an impact on her students and was nominated for the Alan R. Barton Excellence in Teaching Award and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award. Her basketball team advanced to the playoffs in four out of five seasons and finished as District runner-up in her third season, while the track team also won the State Championship in the 4×4 relay and advanced to the Regional tournament.   

A full circle occurred when Coach Dayatra was called to return to Heidelberg High School to accept the role of District Lead Teacher and then became the Assistant Principal for the next four years. 

After leaving Mississippi, Coach settled in Columbus, Ohio and started her Midwest educational career at Buckeye Preparatory Academy as an ELA teacher. She then later became the Reading Intervention Specialist and by the end of the school term, she was the fill-in third-grade ELA teacher due to staffing decreases. Two years were spent at Buckeye Prep and she decided to part ways to work on the high school level, once more landing an English teacher position at the Academy for Urban Scholars high school in Columbus, Ohio where she would serve four years.  

At the Academy for Urban Scholars high school, Coach Dayatra served in many capacities which include 9-12 English Lead Teacher, Assistant Principal, Manager of Student Engagement and Retention, Title 1 Coordinator, and most recently, Director of Mentoring.  

Coach received recognition as 212 New Employee in 2019; the Resilience Award in 2021 and was named 10TV News Classroom Hero in 2022. 

Her educational experiences have afforded her the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse group of people to meet the common goal of increasing student achievement and well-being. Her educational philosophy is based on her uncompromising belief that all students can learn, given a positive learning environment, strong and knowledgeable leadership, a committed and focused educational team, an encouraging community, and a support system that is fair, firm, and consistent. 

Coach Dayatra earned an Associate Degree from Jones County Junior College in 1993 and a Bachelor of Science Degree in English from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1996. She later attended William Carey University and earned her Master of Education Degree in Gifted and Talented in 2011.  

Coach Dayatra has three daughters, all of whom have graduated from high school as well as a four-year university, five grandchildren, and a host of grand pets.  

Her desire to make a difference is unmatched and she is excited to bring 28 years of educational experience and a passion for people to continue her career with the ACCEL family as Principal of Capital Collegiate Preparatory Academy.