Crittenden County Schools name new high school principal

Crittenden County High School will have a new principal as of next week.

On Wednesday evening the school district posted that Dr. Melissa Quertermous will be stepping down as principal. She is a 22-year employee of Crittenden County School District, and was hired as principal in 2021. The school district's post mentioned that Quertermous decided to return to teaching senior English at the high school.

Retired Webster County Superintendent and former Crittenden County teacher Rhonda Callaway will become interim principal at CCHS starting Oct. 30.


Here's the school district’s post:

Citing a desire to return to the classroom, Dr. Melissa Quertermous announced today that she is vacating the role as principal of Crittenden County High School. Rhonda Callaway, a 29-year veteran of education, will serve as interim principal for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year. 

Callaway, a native of Union County, served as assistant principal at Crittenden County Elementary during the 2009-2010 school year and assistant principal of Crittenden County High School during the 2010-2011 school year, prior to being selected as the principal--a position she held until 2014. Since the start of the school year, she has served in a consultant role with the district, primarily focusing on the career and technical education program at the high school. Previously, Callaway has served as principal at Union County Middle School, secondary instructional supervisor for Webster County Schools, and, most recently, she retired as superintendent of Webster County Schools in July, 2022, after four years serving in that role. 

Quertermous will teach senior English, a subject with which she has more than 18 years of teaching experience at Crittenden County. A graduate of Livingston Central High School, Quertermous attended Murray State University as an English major, where she obtained a teaching degree. She has since obtained both a masters and an EdD from MSU.  

Callaway holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology from Indiana University and two Masters degrees; one in secondary education with an emphasis in biology and a second Masters in administration from Murray State University.