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Longtime  Centerville High School  principal to retire

After 35 years as an educator, Eileen Booher will retire Nov. 1.

Booher has been coordinating  principal for the Dayton area’s largest school — and the state’s third largest high school — for the past decade. She is retiring effective Nov. 1.

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By Jill Kelley, Staff Writer 10:27 PM Thursday, September 15, 2011

CENTERVILLE — Centerville High School Principal Eileen Booher is retiring, effective Nov. 1, after 35 years in education.

Booher has been coordinating  principal for the Dayton area’s largest school — and the state’s third largest high school — for the past decade. She was hired at CHS in 1991 as a unit principal and worked in that capacity for 10 years before becoming the school’s coordinating principal.

Booher also taught at Stivers School for the Arts for 12 years and worked as an assistant principal at Stebbins High for three years.

Centerville Superintendent Tom Henderson said Booher has excelled at managing the large facility, which has an enrollment of more than 2,800. He credited Booher with initiating the school’s Arabic and Chinese classes, as well as several online courses.

Booher said she is most proud of the fine arts program. “The Performing Arts Center was really just a place to house the vision for the arts that we had,” she said of the theater that opened in 2007.

Henderson said Booher became the face of CHS. “She attends virtually every single thing that occurs at Centerville High School ... .,” said Henderson.

Booher, a Beavercreek resident, said she attends school activities up to six nights per week. “I don’t want to slight anything. Also, I feel like you get back during the school day what you put in after the school day.”

Former CHS Coordinating Principal and Superintendent Gary Smiga, who worked with Booher for 18 years, said Booher’s involvement is genuine. “It wasn’t just a job; she loved doing it, and she understood the benefits of doing it,” Smiga said.

Booher, 62, said she chose Nov. 1 to retire because fall activities are winding down and the groundwork has been laid for the school year.

Henderson said the staff was interviewing internal candidates this week, and hopes to have a decision next week.

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