Meet Our School Principal Dr. Jarrod Pendergraft

AES Families,

It’s hard to believe we’re about to begin our new journey with the 2023-2024 school year! I am Jarrod Pendergraft and I am proud to serve as the principal of Alcoa Elementary School. To say we’re excited to welcome your children to AES would be a vast understatement! AES feels complete when it’s bustling with the movement and voices of our wonderful students. Please know that our goal, every single day, is to be sure your children are not only educated by the best staff in the state of Tennessee, but that they are loved and cared for just like they were our own! I am a firm believer that Alcoa Elementary School is THE BEST elementary school in the state, for many reasons. We have the best teachers and staff, the best students, and the best parents in the greatest community I’ve ever been a part of! I’m ecstatic to start my 2nd year at AES and my 16th year overall in education.

A little about me, my wife of 12+ years, Melanie, is also an educator and works with students with visual impairments. She will be starting her 26th year, so we are definitely a family of educators. On our 19 acres of quiet paradise, we have 3 dogs (Sydney, Murphy, and Scout) and one cat (Chloe). We like to spend our evenings on the back porch, after busy days at school, admiring our picture perfect view of the Smokies. I couldn’t be more proud to be an Alcoa Tornado and I’m excited to meet everyone!

Dr. Jarrod Pendergraft
Principal
Alcoa Elementary School