June 13, 2024
Umatilla High Principal Brent Frazier Named Florida Principal Of The Year
By Kyle Coppola
Umatilla High Principal Brent Frazier Named Florida Principal Of The Year
Principal Brent Frazier has shown an incredible amount of leadership as he has turned Umatilla High School into one of the most esteemed public schools in Lake County in the past few years.
It wasn’t long ago that Umatilla High School often felt like an afterthought at times. However, when Principal Frazier was hired a few years ago, he changed the academic direction of Umatilla High.
(Principal Frazier on the right shakes the hand of UHSAA President JD Ross who provided a check to the athletics department last year for nearly $58,000.)
“I am humbled and honored to represent Umatilla High School and Lake County Schools as the 2024 NASSP Florida Principal of the Year! Thank you, FASA,” he says.
From the Cambridge AICE program that has been a huge success, Umatilla High School has not disappointed. Students in the Cambridge AICE program earn college credits which they can put towards a degree before even graduating high school. The program has been a huge success, and we are seeing large numbers of students head to Colleges and Universities.
(Principal Frazier hold his 2023 Florida Principal of the Year award. Principal Frazier is taking Umatilla High to places it has never been both academically and athletically.)
In fact, Umatilla High School’s graduation rate in 2023 skyrocketed to 96%. That is the highest graduation rate in school history. It is all thanks to the leadership and guidance of Principal Frazier.
“I believe the key to our success lies in one simple word: Heart,” he says. “It is our commitment to providing better opportunities for our graduates. The work put in by our faculty continues to challenge and humble me. It is our job to keep inspiring our students to reach for greatness. Remember, if you can dream it and believe it, you most certainly can achieve it!.”
Academically, the school is having success, but how about athletically? Principal Frazier has hired some great people to lead Umatilla High’s athletes to new heights. The baseball team led by former graduate Tanner Clark won a district championship for the first time in 22 years.
Both boys and girls basketball teams made the FHSAA Regional Playoffs. Patrick Todd, who is one of the school’s athletic directors, has done amazing work. The list goes on and on.
This is a huge accomplishment, and we couldn’t be more proud to have a Principal like Brent Frazier leading our youth. Congratulations!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
