Ardrey Kell’s principal is leaving. School will have 3rd leader in as many years
Ardrey Kell High School’s principal is leaving in November, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools told parents Wednesday morning. For the south Charlotte school, that means three principals in as many school years.
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The news comes just a year after Susan Wills was chosen for the top job at one of Charlotte-Mecklenburg School’s biggest campuses. The school, which serves grades 9-12, has over 3,000 students. Parents told The Charlotte Observer they’re tired of the turnover.
“Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools would like to thank Principal Susan Wills for her commitment and dedication to Ardrey Kell students, staff and families,” Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Willoughby told parents in an email Wednesday morning, which a parent shared with the Observer. “Principal Wills will retire from her role as principal on November 1, 2026.”
The announcement came just 12 hours after CMS board members announced they voted to retain Superintendent Crystal Hill following a nearly two-month-long investigation into “matters involving administrative and operational oversight.”
Wills joined Ardrey Kell as principal at the start of the 2025-26 school year, after former principal Jamie Brooks was suspended in early May 2025 and later announced her retirement. CMS did not release details about what led to Brooks’ suspension, which Ardrey Kell parents were not notified about for three weeks.
During the first few weeks of Wills’ tenure as Ardrey Kell principal, she met controversy after students painted the school’s “spirit rock” at the front of campus in September to honor slain conservative media personality Charlie Kirk.
At the time, Wills sent a message to families Sept. 14 saying the tribute was unauthorized, and it was painted over. A student’s family later sued the district, alleging it violated their daughter’s freedom of speech.
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The lawsuit was settled in June, and the school board agreed to pay nearly $100,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees, the group representing the family who sued said.
It’s unclear whether the lawsuit and Wills’ retirement are related, but Sarah Dorsey, a parent at Ardrey Kell, said her trust in the district has withered amid the upheaval.
“We’re upset. We’re disappointed. We’re frustrated,” she told the Observer. “It just seems like it’s just the way things go with Ardrey Kell now.”
Willoughby told parents in Wednesday’s email the district would hold several “principal profile meetings” with staff, students and parents this fall to collect feedback about what they want to see in a new principal.
A little over a year after a similar principal search, however, Dorsey said it feels like deja vu.
“There’s no confidence in any of this,” she said. “It’s almost laughable – here we are a year and a half later doing this again, and they think we’re gonna somehow trust the process, show up to all the engagement meetings and really think that they’re going to do things the right way this time.”
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