Susan Hoover Achilles has taught high school English and yearbook production, served as a K-12 gifted and talented education coordinator, and directed an alternative program for at-risk students. From 1985-1996 she has been a middle and high school principal in Greenville, South Carolina, where she also serves on the Board of Directors of the Upstate Mediation Network, Piedmont Residential Homes Placement, and South Carolina Children's Advisory Committee. As principal she initiated FANS (Families And Neighborhood Schools) at Bryson Middle School and the SMART Team (Students Making Alternative Resolutions Together), a school-community initiative, at Woodmont High School, one of South Carolina's first sanctioned peer mediation conflict resolution programs. She currently serves as Director of Safe and Drug Free Schools for the District.