Dr. Terrell most recently served as the principal of Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria, Virginia. He has over 20 years of experience in Fairfax County Public Schools. Prior to coming to Mount Vernon, he served as principal of Rocky Run Middle School and assistant principal at Fairfax High and Cooper Middle Schools. Before becoming a school administrator, he spent eight years teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in traditional and alternative high schools. Between teaching assignments, he worked as a test administration specialist in the Department of Educational Accountability of FCPS. He also left FCPS for a brief time to become the first Director of High School Placement for KIPP DC: Key Academy Public Charter School in Washington, DC.

A former naval officer, Dr. Terrell is a Desert Storm and Iraq war veteran. After his active service, he joined the Naval Reserve, where he worked in naval aviation and in the Naval Expeditionary Logistics Support Force. In civilian life he worked as a project manager for computer systems integration consulting firms.

Dr. Terrell holds a B.S. in Business Administration from The Citadel, a M.Ed. in Secondary Education from The George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in Education Leadership from George Mason University, where he now serves as an adjunct professor. He is a proud native of Baltimore, Maryland.