When Jason Floyd first started working at LN 23 years ago as a building substitute, he never expected to be where he is today, principal of the school.
For the 2025-2026 school year Dr. Shawn Smith, superintendent of Lawrence Township, promoted former principal Brett Crousore to Director of Secondary Education. Dr. Smith then introduced Floyd as the next principal.
“I got called by our district HR director just letting me know,” Floyd said, remembering that day. “I was about to do an interview for another position of mine as an assistant principal, and she let me know then. She told me to keep it quiet until it’s put out by the district and the board,” Floyd said.
In January of 2003 Floyd started his journey at Lawrence North as a kid out of college not knowing that it would become his second home and one day he would be in charge of the school. When he applied for a job at LN he was just looking for a chance and opportunities to start his career in education.
“It was the first place I got an offer from, an official offer, so I came here,” Floyd said. “At the end of the year other districts reached out to me, but after being here for a semester, I was like, no, I like it here. I’m going to stay.”
Two months into the school year Floyd has been enjoying being in charge.
“The only thing I’m trying to get is more experience with the kids,” he said. “As you move up you have to do more of the business aspect of the school, on making it run, so I have to make a point to get back out, walk around the classrooms, and go around the cafeteria during lunch time so I can be around the kids and those kinds of things.”
As a new principal Floyd has goals and accomplishments that he wants to achieve to make the school excel in different ways.
“I want to, as much as possible, make high school fun for kids because I see how much fun we have as little kids in elementary, preschool, like you’re excited to go to school, and we sort of lose that as we get older. I just want to bring that enjoyment for learning back in high school kids,” Floyd said.
There are many qualities that make a person a good leader, one of which is being even keeled.
“I’m pretty calm and even keeled. I don’t overreact to stuff or under react to stuff. I sit, I listen, and make decisions,” he said.
Being poised is showing very calm and controlled behavior; those words perfectly define Floyd, according to some of the teachers.
“He’s calm, he’s even keeled, he’s not somebody who tends to get real worked up,” English teacher Dan Bender said. “He also is somebody I think is very approachable, like he’s an easy person to talk to or to ask questions.”
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, the word even-keeled is used to describe “a person who is calm, steady, and not easily flustered by stress or difficulty much like a stable ship.” This word and its definition is used by many on the LN staff to define Floyd as a person and as a principal.
“I would say one of the biggest differences is just the energy that he brings. It is just different, more even-keeled and calm and just has a different energy when he approaches this place,” Emily McMasters, math teacher, said.
Floyd’s journey has spanned over two decades at one school, and he has experienced a lot in that time.
“LN is my home away from home. I have been here for over 23 years. My family has had a lot of good memories here. I just love this place. I want to stick here.”
