Associate Principal Dr. Cindi Lowe speaks at an ODYSSEY Media Group Press Conference in Room 231 on Nov. 7, 2022. After a year and a half as CCHS Associate Principal, Cindi made the difficult decision to put an end to her 30-plus year career in education by retiring at the end of the 2023-24 fall semester. “(Retiring) is gonna be wonderful, it’s gonna be great. I can’t wait and it is going to be wonderful and all those things are true, but the ability to make the decision that this is going to be the end of my career in education has been much more difficult than I thought it would be,” Cindi said. Photo by Aza Khan
Associate Principal of Operations and Freshman Academy Administrator Dr. Cindi Lowe will retire from her role at CCHS at the end of the semester on Dec. 8, ending her 30-plus year career in education and leaving a legacy of family and motherhood behind it.
Dr. Cindi Lowe has two families.
The first consists of her husband, mother, children and grandchildren, all of whom make her the woman she is today. The second is made up of the people of Clarke Central High School — the students, the staff and the community members who have made an impression on Cindi during her year and a half as CCHS Associate Principal of Operations.
It’s this second family that Cindi will depart from on Dec. 8, at the end of the 2023 fall semester, as she enters retirement.
“They always tell athletes, ‘Don’t leave when you’re at the bottom, leave when you’re at the top,’ and it is so nice to know that in my final years in education, people still felt like I had something to contribute,” Cindi said.
Cindi’s journey in education stretches all the way back to her days at Brenau Women’s College, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Middle Grade Education. From there, Cindi moved to the University of Georgia, where she received her Masters Degree and Specialist Degree in the 1980s.
A love letter between Associate Principal Dr. Cindi Lowe and her husband, Eric, rests on Cindi’s desk in her office on April 12, 2022. Though Cindi has balanced her school family with her home family throughout her lengthy educational career, she hopes retiring will allow her to spend more time at home. “I’m looking forward to just spending a lot of time with my grandchildren, my children (and) my mother,” Cindi said. “(My mother) is always asking me, ‘Will you go out to dinner with me?’ and I always have something to do or I’m tired, so (retiring) will allow me to be able to enjoy doing more things and having more time.” Photo by Samaya Ellis
Even at the very beginning, Cindi balanced her education with her responsibilities as a mother.
“I had class at UGA (while) I was in graduate school in the evenings. It lasted five hours (and) there was nothing I could do (about) my children,” Cindi said. “I had them with me at the time in Aderhold (Hall) where there was a little snack place with tables. My kids would be able to bring something with them, drawing paper and things like that, and they would each get enough (money) to buy a snack.”
After leaving UGA, Cindi embarked on a 30-plus year career in education, working as a teacher and administrator throughout her time in the Oglethorpe County School District.
Moving from elementary to middle to high school, Cindi occupied several positions — including teacher, Assistant Principal, special education department chair and Director of Special Education — throughout her time in Oglethorpe County. During this time, Cindi had the opportunity to teach her son, William, at Oglethorpe County Middle School.
“She was known as one of the fun teachers that you wanted. You wanted to be in her class,” William said.
Cindi received her Doctorate of Education from Liberty University in 2010, which allowed her to pursue further administrative positions. After serving as the Director of Student Support Services and Director of System Operations in Oglethorpe County from 2011-16, Cindi transitioned to Cedar Shoals High School, where she was a teacher, instructional coach and, eventually, Associate Principal of Operations.
After a year as Associate Principal of Operations at CSHS, Cindi came to CCHS in the same position ahead of the 2022-2023 school year as well as Freshman Academy Administrator, noting the familial environment directly upon her arrival.
“Everybody has been extremely welcoming. I feel like I’m already a part of things,” Cindi told the ODYSSEY Media Group in an August 2022 interview. “The students have all just been really receptive and really friendly and it’s been a great opportunity to meet new people. (Transitioning from CSHS) actually went much better than I anticipated it would.”
Associate Principal Dr. Cindi Lowe speaks at the freshman assembly in Mell Auditorium on Aug. 2. Cindi moved from Cedar Shoals High School to Clarke Central High School at the start of the 2022-23 school year, which forced her to restart her efforts at relationship building. “When you go to a new place you start all over. Some people kind of knew me because I’ve been in the district and of course, they check you out. They find out what people thought about you, but you still have to do the work to build a relationship,” Cindi said. “It’s work I love, but it’s still something that has to be done in order to be able to move forward and work.” Photo by Aza Khan
As the Freshman Academy Administrator, Cindi immediately oversaw the greatest number of students out of the four CCHS grade-level administrators in addition to her role managing the day-to-day operations of the building.
“(Cindi) has really done a phenomenal job of not only working to build what Central already is, but she’s also working to make sure that the teachers here feel comfortable to give their best, as well,” social studies department teacher and Freshman Academy Leader Shana Biggs said.
Outside of her work with the freshman class, Cindi collaborated with school leaders like Family Engagement Specialist and Academic Support Specialist Christian Barner on academic support projects within the school.
“(Cindi) is extremely knowledgeable about instruction, she’s very knowledgeable about school and about school systems,” Barner said. “I think that (she has) helped me better understand my job, what I’m doing, what I can do and what can be done at school.”
Even as Cindi worked seemingly nonstop inside the halls of CCHS, her family grew outside it. Both her son and daughter welcomed children into the world in the past three years, while Cindi’s mother moved in with Cindi and her husband.
“I’m looking forward to just spending a lot of time with my grandchildren, my children (and) my mother,” Cindi said. “(My mother) is always asking me, ‘Will you go out to dinner with me?’ and I always have something to do or I’m tired, so (retiring) will allow me to be able to enjoy doing more things and having more time.”
Though she had long juggled being a school leader with her family life, Cindi realized the relationship between her two homes, her two families, was finally becoming stretched.
“I’ve always been able to balance the two, at times better than others, but now I have reached the point where I think it’s getting out of balance. I don’t have the time,” Cindi said.
Though her retirement may have been a surprise to many CCHS students and staff, Cindi says she was planning on retiring either at the end of the current 2023-24 school year or after the 2024-25 school year. However, due to the birth of her fourth grandchild and her mother’s upcoming surgery, Cindi’s departure accelerated.
By the time Cindi departs, the CCHS administrative team will have worked together for a year and a half, a continuity that Barner feels the school will lose with her exit.
A photo gallery displays Associate Principal Dr. Cindi Lowe at several Clarke Central High School events throughout her time at the school. Despite having worked at CCHS for less than two years, Lowe thinks that the learning environment and people changed the way she viewed retirement. “I used to joke when people would talk to me about, ‘Dr. Lowe, when are you retiring?’ People have been asking me that for a few years now,” Cindi said. “They would say, ‘Are you excited about all that?’ and I would always say ‘When the moment happens, if you want to tell me bye, you better be chasing me in my car,’ but I’m leaving (in) that moment.” Photos by Aza Khan and Isabelle Duncan
“My biggest challenge with retirement was just having the courage to say ‘This is time, this is it,” Cindi said. “(On Nov. 15), I thought it was time, (but) I really could not say it out loud. I’m not quite sure why it was so difficult for me to actually talk about it, but I could not. I was sitting in my office and I kept telling myself, ‘You have to go tell (Principal Dr. Swade Huff) that you’re going to retire.’”
“’I’m saddened that she’s leaving because I feel like we’ve solved this issue (of academic support). We’ve got some things that are starting to happen for our freshmen students to support them,” Barner said. “It’s going to be a loss for us.”
For those who didn’t know her, Cindi’s departure may initially go unnoticed. However, whether it’s her absence from her perch overlooking the Miller B. Jordan Food Court, the deafening lack of her infectious laugh echoing off the third-floor halls or the disappearance of her powerful leadership, CCHS will soon realize just what it’s losing.
Because, in Dr. Cindi Lowe, CCHS didn’t just have an associate principal — it had a caretaker.
“I’ve had wonderful work experiences, but there is something about the people and the climate and the inclusiveness and the amount of activities and clubs and the adults who sponsor all these things in order to make sure that everybody has something (that makes CCHS special),” Cindi said. “This is absolutely the place I’m going to miss the most out of my career, but I also think it’s the perfect place to end my career.”
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