Cherokee Schools Announces New Principals and Administrators

The Cherokee County School District has announced its new principals and administrators for next school year.

The Cherokee County school board approved June 20 leadership appointments for district and school roles.

The appointments are in support of a restructuring of CCSD’s central office, and to fill openings created by two recent retirements and one transfer.

Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis froze hiring for district roles for her first 100 days to allow for a full review of current operations and staffing and subsequent realignment, per CCSD.

The changes reduce the overall number of central office roles, through attrition, consolidation, and reassignment. According to CCSD, central office positions make up 6.6% of the district’s employees.

New organizational charts incorporating the changes, including all central office employees, will be posted on CCSD’s website in July.

Nicole Holmes, CCSD’s chief academic officer, is retiring at the end of July after a 30-year career in education.

A new chief academic officer soon will be appointed, as will a supervisor for advanced learning and a coordinator for fine arts.

The school board appointed its first executive director for accountability: Joshua Heath, a 12-year educator who currently serves as a principal for Pickens County Schools.

Michael Santoro, principal of Creekview High School, is leaving CCSD at this end of this month to take on a new role as chief operations officer for Marietta City Schools.

Creekview’s new principal will be Mark Vance, a 17-year educator who currently serves as an assistant principal at the school. Nicole Wadsworth, a seven-year educator who currently serves as a teacher at Woodstock High School, will join Creekview as an assistant principal.

Matt Kimbrell, a 24-year educator who currently serves as principal of R.M. Moore Elementary School STEM Academy, will join CCSD’s School Leadership and Operations division as its third assistant superintendent. The other two assistant superintendent roles will be filled by the division’s current executive directors, Matt Freedman and Rodney Larrotta.

R.M. Moore’s new principal will be Kim Moody, a 26-year educator who currently serves as an assistant principal at the school. Jennifer Dupoux, a 21-year educator who currently serves as a teacher at Hasty Elementary School Fine Arts Academy, will join R.M. Moore as an assistant principal.

Ashley Kennerly, an 18-year educator who currently serves as principal of Sixes Elementary School, will join School Leadership and Operations as its third director for leadership and operations. The other two director roles will be filled by Michael Manzella and LaToya Gray, who currently serve as curriculum directors in Curriculum and Instruction.

Sixes’ new principal will be Ginger Morgan, a 22-year educator who currently serves as an assistant principal at Little River Elementary School. Kelly Cooks, a 13-year educator who currently serves as a Special Education facilitator at Carmel Elementary School, will join Little River as an assistant principal.

Tia Bryller, a 20-year educator who currently serves as principal of Woodstock Middle School, will join School Leadership and Operations as its first director for school support and athletics.

Woodstock Middle School’s new principal will be Ken Nix, a 21-year educator who currently serves as an assistant principal at River Ridge High School. Pamela Costa, a 19-year educator who currently serves as the instructional lead strategist at River Ridge will advance to serve as an assistant principal.

Dana Thompkins, a 15-year educator who currently serves as a special education facilitator at Avery Elementary School, will join Carmel Elementary School as an assistant principal.

Tara Quinn-Schuldt, a 19-year professional in her field who currently serves as a student support specialist in School Leadership and Operations, will advance to the division’s newly created role of coordinator of student support.

Scott Krug, who has served with CCSD for 28 years and currently serves as supervisor of facility support services in Support Services, is advancing to the division’s newly created role of director for that department. The department includes CCSD’s recently restored in-house custodial services employees.

The school board also approved lateral shift-related title changes for current employees to reflect the reorganization.

For more information on the organizational changes, visit tinyurl.com/4jarjdd9 .