By Carl Blankenship
carl.blankenship@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — After more than 31 years in education and at the end of the current school year, Julie Morrow will be retiring from Rowan-Salisbury Schools as the district’s assistant superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.

Morrow has spent the past seven years with RSS. Before she came to Salisbury, she worked for the state and consulted with principals in low-performing districts. She began the coaching work after spending a decade in administration.

She spent the first decade of her career as a teacher, and the next as an administrator. She was a principal at three schools.

“I loved, loved teaching,” Morrow said.

She still tries to get into the classroom every day to interact with teachers and students. And Morrow is still trying to think about what retired life will look like because she has been working in some education-focused capacity since she was in seventh grade. However, she wants to devote more time to her family and spend time with her children before they leave home.

Morrow said she will miss the day-to-day interactions with people, and she had glowing things to say about the rest of the folks at RSS. She said everyone is working together to serve the children in the community.

“I’m just honored, truly honored to have had this opportunity,” Morrow said. “It has been a gift to be part of this team.”

Morrow said she can not narrow down all of her memories in education to just one favorite, but she has loved seeing children excited about learning and “inspired to realize their gifts.”

“I find joy in every day,” Morrow said. “It has never been a job for me because it’s my passion.”

Superintendent Lynn Moody said she can’t say enough great things about Morrow’s impact on the school system, its staff, students families and the community.

“When I first came to this district as superintendent, I relied heavily on her expertise and knowledge in helping me to learn quickly about the ins and outs of our schools and Rowan County,” Moody said. “Through the years, her leadership skills have contributed significantly to the success of many major initiatives, such as rolling out an aggressive one-to-one technology program and most recently our implementation of renewal.”

Most of all, Moody said, she’ll miss Morrow’s positive attitude and smile.

“Especially when times would become tense and stressful, Julie would graciously be willing to roll up her sleeves and work extra hard to ensure that the task at hand is completed to the highest of expectations,” Moody said. “I wish her the very best as she moves forward in this new stage of her life and career. She deserves the very best as she has given her very best to all of us.”

Morrow will officially retire June 1.