Mr. Chad Upton - Principal
christopher.upton@bcsemail.org

Please allow me to welcome you to Pisgah Elementary School’s website and the larger school community at Pisgah. I am excited and humbled to have the opportunity to be in my 1st year as Principal at Pisgah Elementary School after spending all of the first 27 years of my career here in Buncombe County Schools. Prior to my time here, I served as principal at Leicester, Woodfin, and Fairview Elementary Schools for a total of 15 years, and as an Assistant Principal at Emma, Glen Arden, Enka Middle, and Erwin Middle.  Prior to my administrative career, I was a science, math, and social studies teacher at Enka Middle School. During that time, I also served as a basketball and baseball coach at both Enka Middle and Enka High Schools. For me, the opportunity to begin and now round-out my career serving the Enka district is special. I cannot tell you how excited I am to have the opportunity to serve you and your child in that capacity here.

I am married to my wife, Sarah, an agent with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Child Development. Our son, Tyrus, is a freshman at Appalachian State University majoring in Local Government and Political Science. Both of my parents are retired educators. My mother, Treva, taught for 30 years at Waynesville Middle School while my father was a teacher, high school principal, and Superintendent of Schools in Haywood County. I am a graduate of Pisgah High School in Canton as well as of Appalachian State University and Western Carolina University with degrees in Middle School Education, Geography, and School Administration.  I am a family-oriented person, where I spend much of my downtime, along with pulling for the Carolina Hurricanes, Appalachian Mountaineers, and Atlanta Falcons. Reading is an important pastime in my family as well. I enjoy regional non-fiction, historical non-fiction, particularly World War II era and that relating to the history around North Carolina's mountains and coast. Along with this, I deeply enjoy the comic book genre as the heroes of Marvel and DC comics have become one of my, and my son's, favorite pastimes.

I hope you will often hear me refer to your child as my child. I believe our job is to do all we can to give them the best experiences possible here. Our work with our children is a step, perhaps many steps, that are designed to end with their graduation and entrance into society as adults, and that of course is an important job. I am comforted to know that we have a tremendous staff of dedicated professionals that are willing to make sacrifices in their own lives while looking forward to their work each day, families that are involved with their children and their community, volunteers who help each day without an expectation of reward, and a community that dearly loves its school.  I would say to you that there is no better example of a successful community oriented elementary school than that of Pisgah. All of that has taken work from many folks for many years with a common goal and outlook. We look forward to continuing our work in advancing our children’s access to technology, developing and deepening partnerships with the entities around us that share our goals, growing our student's access to all the information and experiences that we can find, deepening our skills in reading, writing, and math, and having a true sense of place in our community and country within the process. All of this happens while we all support each other. It is our pleasure to work to give our children the very best of us each day by keeping them safe, healthy, and eagerly engaged in their education and lives. I appreciate each family and look forward to continuing my service at Pisgah Elementary!

Amanda Gillespie - Data Manager
Amanda has been with Buncombe County schools 6 years. She has been at Pisgah 2 years as a STEM Insructional Assistant. She loves to spend time with her family and enjoys being at the softball field.

Tina Smith - Secretary
Tina has been with Buncombe County Schools for 21 years. She was an assistant at Pisgah for 14 years then left to join the staff at New Covenant Church. After 5 years at NCC, she left to start a mission agency called MAP Global where she currently remains on staff. Tina joined the staff at Johnston Elementary as a Title 1 assistant for the past 3 years before returning to Pisgah. Tina was a student at Pisgah, her children all attended Pisgah, and she is very excited to return home to Pisgah. When she is not at Pisgah or working at MAP Global, Tina loves to hike and camp.