Baskerville Elementary celebrates first day under new leadership

Baskerville Elementary School in Rocky Mount welcomed new and returning students with a school spirit event Monday morning. The event was attended by community leaders and representatives of local churches and civic organizations.

Not only was Monday the first day of school for Baskerville Elementary staff and students, it was also the first time the school was in session as a part of the Edgecombe County Public Schools system.

Ja’Quez Murphy, the school’s behavior coordinator, noted that due to the demerger of the Nash County and Edgecombe County school districts, that Baskerville Elementary was one of four schools that transferred to the control of Edgecombe County Public Schools.

Baskerville Elementary is located on the Edgecombe County side of Rocky Mount. The demerger effectively ended the agreement between the two school systems that had previously kept all of the Rocky Mount facilities and students as part of the Nash County Public Schools.

With the demerger now finalized, students living on the Edgecombe County side of Rocky Mount will be served by Edgecombe County Public Schools.

At Baskerville Elementary, all of its enrollment now consists of Edgecombe County residents.

Murphy said enrollment at the school dropped by 345 students compared to last year.

With a new school district taking over control of the school, Murphy said, “We have a whole new administrative team. Our principal is new and our assistant principal is new. And about 95 percent of our staff is new. To celebrate this milestone and show our school spirit, we hosted a cheer squad event on the first day of school.”

Murphy said the event generated a lot of excitement for the students. But he said the most excited group of all attending the morning festivities were their parents.

“They were very impressed. They’re very excited about what this year will hold for their students. We’ve had a lot of parents say they want to volunteer. They want to be a part of the school community,” Murphy said, adding that Principal Brandan Lucas welcomes their input and support.

Lucas, 48, a 10-year veteran in the field of education, is starting his first year as a school principal and being an administrator with Edgecombe County Public Schools. Lucas was previously employed by Nash County Public Schools where he served as an assistant principal of M.B. Hubbard Elementary School and Winstead Avenue Elementary School.

Of his education philosophy, Lucas says he is a firm believer in character education as well as academics.

“I believe whole heartedly in the words of Dr. King: ‘Intelligence plus character, that’s the true goal of education,’” Lucas said.

Of the relation between the school and its parents, Murphy said the success of the school is directly linked to the strength of its partnership with the school’s parents.

“This has to be a partnership. That’s the only way we reach success. It can’t be schools versus parents. It has to be schools and parents together,” Murphy said.