Triad administration taps Josh Ackerman as next Triad High principal

Ackerman

By Charles Bolinger

Editor

After the current school year ends next May, there will be a change in leadership at Triad High School.

As announced at the Oct. 27 school board meeting, Josh Ackerman will succeed Kelli Barbour as the school’s principal for the 2026-2027 school year.

At last month’s meeting, Superintendent Dr. Jason Henderson described Ackerman as a “Triad lifer.”

Ackerman graduated from the current Triad Middle School in 1994, when it was the district’s high school. The current high school opened in 2000. 

After graduation, he went on to attend Illinois College in Jacksonville for four years, where he majored in biology and education. 

“I started working at Triad High in the fall of 1998,” he recalled. He spent the next nine or 10 years teaching biology until an administrator retired then Ackerman became assistant principal, a post he has retained for the past 19 years.  

“I had told Jason [Henderson] last year that I was interested in the position, so I was optimistic [about my chances,]” he said. “I’m excited. This is such a great place. The student body is so kind to each other.”

He attributes a lot of that to his predecessor, current principal Kelli Barbour. 

“Every school day, she ends her general announcements with ‘Be Kind,’” Ackerman said. “It’s like she’s made it cool to be kind. She deserves a lot of credit for the job she has done as Principal. She is also a lifelong Triad grad and employee.”

Barbour agreed.

Barbour

“I also attended the Triad schools from kindergarten through high school and then returned to teach at THS,” she said. “I taught social studies, mostly world history. I previously coached softball, basketball and tennis at THS. I was also the sponsor of Student Council, Model UN and Ethics Bowl. I am proud to be a Triad Knight and would not want to spend my career anywhere else. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to teach here for so many years and to serve as principal for the past five years.” 

When asked what his first objectives as principal might be, Ackerman pointed to the school’s recent accolades from both U.S. News and the Illinois State Board of Education, the latter of which puts Triad High in the top 2% of all Illinois high schools.  

“Don’t expect any big changes out of Triad High,” he affirmed.