Over the course of Dr. Cordell Jones’ 26-year teaching and school leadership career, he has been passionate about ensuring that every student in his charge has the best educational experience possible. His professional mission to eliminate performance gaps between student populations led him to spend 18+ hours every week, training and developing teachers to be exceptional at delivering instruction. 

As a TBC Presenter and Coach, Cordell continues to teach administrator-secretary teams how to thrive together, for the sake of their school communities, their students, and their personal well-being.

When Cordell took on his first elementary principalship in 2004, even with extensive preparatory experience, he found himself overwhelmed with paperwork and bureaucracy. He failed to get into classrooms and felt isolated from students. He rarely had time to provide professional development to his teachers and spent far too many hours working nights and weekends. He recounts bringing his two small children to work to build forts under his desk, while he spent Saturdays catching up. Ultimately, the innumerable hours led to frustration, resentment and severe stress, and he was unsure if he would continue in the profession which he resoundingly called, “the most important in the world.” 

Having observed his unhappiness, a colleague recommended he attend The Breakthrough Coach Foundation Course in 2005. Cordell credits this course with saving his career and his life. Post-course, he and his secretary implemented The Breakthrough Coach school management system and the rest is history! 

Within 18 months, student achievement in his school soared! Achievement gaps between Anglo and Hispanic students, as well as between Socio-Economic and Non Socio-Economic students shrunk to single digits. In 2012, his campus earned recognition as a top San Antonio public school. That same year, Cordell was identified as a leading South Texas elementary principal, and one of Texas’ top five elementary principals statewide. 

Cordell served on the national executive board of the School Leaders Network from 2008-2013. From 2013 to 2015, and again in 2017 he taught and mentored aspiring administrators at Trinity University. He has served in leadership roles with the Texas Elementary Principals Association, the Alamo Area Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and Destination Imagination.

Cordell holds a B.A. in Political Science from Davidson College, a M.A. in Teaching and School Administration from Trinity University, and a Ed.D in School Administration from Texas A&M University. Through it all, he has managed to stay happily married to his wife, Catherine, for over 30 years, and is the proud father to two successful adult children, Landon and Caspin.