The Newton County Board of Education unanimously approved the transfer of Holly Dubois, principal of Fairview Elementary School, to the principal position of the new South Salem Elementary School at Tuesday night's board meeting.
The board also approved a replacement for Dubois and for retiring principal of Palmer-Stone Elementary, Carl Wilkins.
"All three are from within the district where they have been competent in their duties and we're very proud to have them fill these positions," said Superintendent Steve Whatley.
South Salem Elementary is scheduled to open to students in August, when Dubois will take over as head of the school. Dubois served as the assistant principal of Fairview Elementary for two years before accepting the principal position which she has held for three years.
Takila Curry, an assistant principal at Palmer-Stone Elementary, will replace Dubois as Fairview Elementary's principal.
Curry holds a bachelor's degree in early childhood education from The University of West Georgia, as well as a master's and education specialist degrees from Jacksonville State University in Alabama.
She is currently working on earning her doctorate in educational leadership from Georgia Southern University.
Before serving as an assistant principal at Palmer-Stone, Curry taught at Forrest Hills Elementary School in Decatur and Clay Elementary School in Mableton.
Curry is a member of the Georgia Association of Educators and the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. She also teaches parenting classes at the Washington Street Community Center and is the curriculum developer and instructor for the pre-teens class at Springfield Baptist Church.
Long-time principal of Palmer-Stone Elementary Carl Wilkins will retire at the end of the school year, when Lori Thomas will take over as principal.
Thomas currently is an assistant principal at Ficquett Elementary School. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in early childhood education from LaGrange College, her education specialist degree in educational leadership from the University of Sarasota, Fla. and her doctorate in educational leadership from Argosy University also in Sarasota.
Thomas previously taught in Henry County, Hampton, and Forest Park.
She has served on several Southern Association of Colleges review teams and committees and has conducted many staff development workshops and reading initiatives.
The board also approved the promotion of Samantha Fuhrey from principal of Indian Creek Middle School to Newton County System Director of Professional Learning.
Fuhrey obtained her bachelor's degree in secondary English from Marywood University in Pennsylvania, her master's in educational leadership and administration from the University of West Georgia and her education specialist degree in educational leadership from Georgia College and State University.
She has served as the principal of Indian Creek since 2001 and worked as an assistant principal at the school beginning in 1999.
Fuhrey previously served as an assistant principal at Miller Grove Middle School in Decatur and taught language arts at Cedar Grove and Chapel Hill middle schools and Oak Grove Elementary School in Decatur.
She has presented information at several conferences including the International Reading Conference, the DeKalb County Schools' 2000 Education Conference and the National Council for Teachers of English Conference.
The board also recently approved the hire of Dennis Carpenter to replace Donald Dunnigan as the NCSS Associate Superintendent for Human Resources.
The board still must name a principal of Newton High to replace Joe Gheesling, who is transferring out of the system at the end of the school year, as well as a principal for Liberty Middle School, which is scheduled to open in August of 2009.
