The Georgia-Cumberland Conference is pleased to announce the appointment of Donald R. Short as northern region education director (associate superintendent of education). Short brings more than three decades of Adventist educational experience — as a classroom teacher, vice principal, and school principal — to the Conference-level leadership role.
Short previously served as a teacher and vice principal at Georgia-Cumberland Academy (GCA) from 1998 to 2014, where he was involved in student life, curriculum, personnel, accreditation, and leading study tours and mission trips.
Currently, Short serves as principal and business manager at Shenandoah Valley Academy (SVA) in New Market, Va., since 2015. In that role he provides comprehensive oversight of campus life, curriculum, facilities, finances, personnel, student services, and strategic planning. He has also served on the Potomac Conference Board of Education and the Columbia Union Secondary Administrators Council.
“Don is coming back to the Georgia- Cumberland Conference where he previously served at GCA, and he is well known in the community,” said Kim Thompson, vice president for education at the Georgia-Cumberland Conference. “I appreciate his soft-spoken spiritual side. I’m looking forward to him taking over the northern region.”
Short holds a master of arts for teachers in social studies from Indiana University and a bachelor of arts in history and religion from Southern Adventist University. He is currently pursuing a doctorate at Liberty University. As a committed Seventh-day Adventist, Short has served his local congregation as a board member, deacon, elder, and Sabbath School superintendent. He has led mission trips to Belize, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and Puerto Rico.
In his new role, Short will supervise and support elementary and secondary schools throughout the northern region, assist with curriculum development and implementation, conduct teacher and principal evaluations, and serve as a member of the Conference Board of Education. He will report to the vice president for education, and is expected to begin midsummer.
“I’m grateful to join the team of dedicated administrators, teachers, parents, and church members in the northern region,” said Short. “I look forward to supporting, encouraging, and laboring alongside those who are on the front lines. By God’s grace we can achieve extraordinary results in the work of Christ-centered Adventist education — work that is so vital at this time in the history of our church and nation.” Short is married to Laura, and they have three daughters, Emma, Anna, and Ella.
Georgia-Cumberland | May 2026
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