Bryant Woods principal to take helm at Cradlerock School on Friday

In the latest round of principal assignments, Howard County school officials announced that Jason McCoy, principal at Bryant Woods Elementary School, will take over Cradlerock School, a prekindergarten-through-eighth-grade school, on Friday. McCoy, 35, replaces Stephen Zagami, who is taking a job as Montgomery County school system's director of student services.

"They made a good offer, and it's a very exciting position to take," said Zagami, who began his teaching career in 1980 as teacher at Phelps Luck Elementary School.

In 2003, Zagami became principal of Dasher Green-Owen Brown School, two schools that were merged to become the county's only prekindergarten-through-eighth-grade school. The school was renamed Cradlerock the next year. "I'm very grateful for the 25 years and all the experiences I've had here, the opportunities, the friendships and all the things I've learned," he said.

On Friday, McCoy stopped by Cradlerock and asked Zagami to sign a size-18 Nike sneaker.

"I'm going to hang this in my office," McCoy said. "It'll remind me that I'll have big shoes to fill."

McCoy also started his teaching career in Howard County, first as a student-teacher at Stevens Forest Elementary before getting a full-time job at Guilford Elementary in 1991.

He has been principal at Bryant Woods Elementary for the past five years, where he is credited with raising test scores. For the past three years, the school has made adequate academic progress in the Maryland School Assessment.

"What's helpful is that I know the community," said McCoy, who has lived in Owen Brown with his family for nine years. "It'll definitely be a learning curve for me."