As a student at Don Soffer Aventura High School, it was a pleasure for me to sit down with my principal, Mr. David McKnight, and interview him on his life and how he reached the success point he is currently at. Beginning with his early life, McKnight was a “Navy brat” moving from city-to-city every few years. He lived in Jacksonville, then moved to Boston, however, he spent most of his life living in the suburbs of Washington D.C. from first grade to tenth grade. There, his parents were stationed to work in the Bethesda Naval Hospital with relatives in the neighborhood. When McKnight’s father retired from the Navy, they moved down to Macon, Georgia, where his father obtained a job working for GEICO Insurance. McKnight described the difference in the culture and lifestyle as he moved from one of the best public school systems in the nation to a public school district with educational challenges. This is one of the reasons Mr. McKnight is passionate about education in the public school sector and how he feels about giving every student a quality education regardless of where they live or their socio-economic status.
As McKnight reflected on his childhood, he reminisced on the impact his parents had on him during his youth. He shared how his parents taught him a light-hearted and humorous personality and instilled in him a strong work ethic. McKnight chose to get involved in k-12 education because working in business did not satisfy his need to help others. When he visited a school to give mental health counseling services to their students, he realized his true passion for education and decided to study guidance and counseling to help students with their struggles. Before he knew it, he was an assistant principal and kept growing through education. He worked as regional director for Charter Schools USA in South Florida and South and North Carolina. After this assignment, he switched positions to new school opening director and supervised the entire building and ordering process, working with all departments of every school that was opened by Charter Schools USA. His final assignment at Charter Schools USA was as Senior Director of Education. It was during his tenure in this role that McKnight felt the need to be back in the school environment and work eith teachers, students, and parents. “I really enjoyed my time in schools, and wanted to end my career in education where it began,” said McKnight. He loves the community in Aventura and the culture here. McKnight has worked at Coral Springs Charter School, North Broward Academy of Excellence, and Keysgate Charter School, before his current occupation at DSHS.
As McKnight prepared for the opening of our school, he claimed his biggest challenge was to open the school on time. He and former Aventura City Manager Eric Soroka, worked very closely to prepare for the opening of the school and were determined to make it happen. McKnight and those on the sub-committee would meet and discuss every little detail to make the school a success. In Mcknight’s eyes, the school is doing as well as he expected. The diversity of students and the way the school interacts with the community is one of his favorite aspects. The school management is going great and McKnight is truly focused on letting each student discover their passion and their purpose for the future. McKnight’s biggest achievement at DSHS is bringing in amazing and highly experienced teachers for the students. In the future, McKnight hopes to expand community partnerships, find internships for the students of DSHS, building clubs and electives, and to expose students to different colleges.
To end the interview, I asked a few fun questions to get to know the fun side of Mr. McKnight.
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Non-Dairy Caramel Almond Brittle by Ben and Jerry’s
Favorite Movie: Any Documentary
Favorite Activity: Work in the garden/botany
Favorite Author: James Michener (Because of his ability to paint a clear image of geographic regions while also sharing historical information through great writing.)
Sitting down with Mr. McKnight was an experience I will never forget and I appreciated him taking the time out of his busy schedule to sit down with me and talk.
