Pattillo Middle's principal tapped to lead early college in Pitt County

A local middle school principal has been chosen to lead Pitt County Schools Early College High School.

Leshaun Jenkins, principal of Pattillo Middle School in Tarboro, will become principal of the early college affiliated with Pitt Community College, beginning in July, according to a Tuesday announcement.

Jenkins has worked in the Edgecombe County Public Schools since 2001, beginning as a history teacher at Tarboro High School, where he later became assistant principal. He also served as assistant principal at Princeville Elementary and Phillips Middle schools. A three-time Teacher of the Year award recipient at Tarboro High, he also has coached basketball, tennis and soccer teams.

“I am truly grateful to ECPS for the honor and privilege to have served in a plethora of ways over the course of the past 23 years,” Jenkins said in a statement. “I am even more excited to make this transition to the Pitt County Schools system. … I am looking forward to meeting the staff, connecting with students and strengthening our purposeful partnerships with PCC and other community stakeholders to ensure continued academic excellence and holistic development for all.”

Jenkins has bachelor’s degrees in history and political science from East Carolina University and a master’s degree in school administration from N.C. State University. He earned a certificate in Educating Global Citizens from Harvard University in 2020 and was part of the Haiti Teacher Fellows program affiliated with the University of North Carolina-Duke Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies in 2020-21.

Jenkins will succeed Bill Frazier, who has served as interim principal since founding Principal Wynn Whittington resigned earlier this spring to accept an assistant superintendent position in Jones County.

Since its launch in 2015 on the campus of Pitt Community College, the early college in Pitt County has grown to nearly 300 students who are dually enrolled in high school and community college courses.