Farris keeps his family legacy alive

Did you know assistant principal Troy Farris comes from a very successful family lineage? His mother, Charlye Farris, was the first woman to actively practice law and served as the first African-American judge in Wichita County. 

But Charlye wasn’t the first well-known Farris, either. Her father was the first African-American school superintendent in Texas back when schools were segregated, while Charlye’s mother taught as an elementary school teacher for 49 years. 

Farris followed in his grandparents’ footsteps and became a part of the education field in WFISD. However, that was not his original plan. 

Farris started working for the WFISD district when he was only 16 years old. 

“I worked in the summer, in the textbook department, and worked full time during college,” Farris said. “I took one education class my senior year (of college) at Midwestern then I got hired in May to teach science at Barwise Middle School.” 

This is Farris’s fifth year as the dean of operations at Rider. He oversees the maintenance, security, custodial and transportation operations. Farris helps coordinate assignments for the staff, such as duty schedules for various things on campus and working with the science department. 

 One of Farris’s favorite parts of Rider are the very special traditions and the people that keep things going. 

“The people that not only teach but help make sure the Rider traditions are being abided,” Farris said. 

Farris has worked for several WFISD schools in his 25-plus years. 

After starting out at Barwise, Farris then moved to Ben Milam as an assistant principal for four years. Then he spent almost nine years as the assistant principal at Hirschi before moving back to Barwise as a principal right before the Bobcats merged with Zundy.

Farris was next assigned to Ben Milam as the principal for a year. Then he spent his next three years at Kirby as the principal before getting transferred to Rider. 

Farris said Barwise Middle School is the most memorable place he’s worked at. 

“I went there as a student, my first teaching job was there, I did my administrative internship there and my first principal’s job was at Barwise,” Farris said. 

Rider principal Dr. Cody Blair and Farris have worked together for seven years, including when they both were middle school principals in the district for two years. They’ve become great friends during this time. 

“He’s very intelligent, sharp, very organized and a really fun person on our team,” Blair said. “He has a great relationship with students, really well-respected by our staff, and as far as an educator goes, he is the best I’ve ever worked with.” 

Farris helps Rider to see the big picture because he is very intelligent, sharp, organized, faithful, professional and cares about the students. 

Blair feels Farris has impacted many lives. 

“He has an incredible family legacy and he has carried it on through his career in education,” Blair said. “It’s a tough job, we deal with a lot of hard situations and he’s done it for a long time and has done it with grace, professionalism and that is a great example to me of someone I inspire to be.”