After 52 years in public and private education, All Saints Episcopal School Headmaster Dr. Mike Bennett will retire at the end of the May.

Dr. Mike Bennett was honored at a dinner hosted by the Board of Trustees on Wednesday, May 17th.  He was recognized for his 12  years of service to the school with the naming of the high school academic building the Bennet Academic Center.

Before joining All Saints in 2005, Dr. Bennett served for 40 years in public education.  During those years he taught speech and English, and served in many different capacities throughout Lubbock ISD.  From 1970-1973 he served both as a school counselor and as a part-time principal at Mackenzie Junior High.  He was Mackenzie’s assistant principal from 1974-1979 and then principal from 1986-1989.  He was Lubbock ISD’s Director of School Public Relations from 1979-1986 and also served as the principal for Monterey High School from 1989-2005.

“It is an honor and a privilege to serve the families of the South Plains of Texas,” Dr. Bennett said.

Dr. Bennett began his tenure at All Saints in 2005 after retiring as principal at Lubbock’s Monterey High School. Under his leadership, an Office of Institutional Advancement was created. An endowment campaign was conducted to create an endowment fund, which is now over $4.3 million. An active grant writing program has raised over $2.5 million in partnership with 15 foundations.

He has overseen two capital campaigns for building growth, which included the construction of the Patriot Learning Center for preschool children and a campus-wide expansion serving all the students.  The most recent expansion included high school classrooms, middle school classrooms, administrative offices, a high school gym with locker rooms and training room, three science labs, and the Kirby Commons.

The staff has almost doubled since 2005 with the addition of classroom teachers, two full-time nurses, two business managers, an assistant head of school, four full-time Institutional Advancement personnel, a full-time counselor, and five part-time music teachers.

He is highly-credited for being a key player in the creation of the high school in 2012 and its continuing success. The high school’s first graduation was in May of 2016. All Saints’ second graduating class will participate in Dr. Bennett’s 18th commencement exercise with him as the head of the school.  The 11 seniors will graduate on May 19, 2017.

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