Donald C. “Chip” Jones, Jr., Superintendent of Cumberland County Public Schools since July 1, 2020, was named Region 8 Superintendent of the Year for 2023. Prior to becoming Superintendent, Jones held a number of positions in the school division, including serving as elementary Assistant Principal, Principal, Director of Finance and Operations, and Assistant Superintendent. He successfully led the division through the pandemic, implementing division-wide virtual learning and then transitioning back to in-person learning. With the return to in-person learning, Jones has focused on mitigating the resulting learning loss and providing social and emotional supports for students. Under his leadership, all Cumberland Schools were accredited. In addition, he has addressed safety and wellness concerns, including upgrading security cameras, adding an additional resource officer to the division, creating outdoor learning spaces, upgrading the phone system, improving the transportation fleet, and initiating capital improvements such as replacing the roof on the middle school.
Dr. Jones is active in many organizations. He leads the Region 8 Finance Directors meetings, is Chairman of the Farmville Chamber of Commerce, is a member of a VDOE work group for teacher licensure and staffing, and serves on a number of boards, the VASBO Board, the UVA Advisory Board, the GoTec Board, and the CodeRVA Board. In addition, he serves on the newly formed Department of Criminal Justice Services Safety Committee and partners with the Cumberland County Public Schools Foundation. Jones works with other school divisions in Region 8, which has included serving as the fiscal agent for the Governor’s School, hosting a Region 8 Job Fair, and leading in the fuel bidding process for the region.
Dr. Jones holds an associate degree from Southside Virginia Community College, a Bachelor of Science degree from Longwood University, a Master of Science degree from Longwood College, and a doctorate from Virginia Commonwealth University.