Death of MCSD principal, retirement of another mean new leaders for these six schools
The death of a Muscogee County School District principal and the pending retirement of another will result in a domino effect of leadership changes at six schools.
MCSD’s monthly personnel report, lists the following principals as being transferred, effective at the start of the 2022-23 school year:
- Dorothy Height Elementary School principal Lamont Sheffield will be principal of Baker Middle School.
- Baker principal Ramona Horn will be principal of Forrest Road Elementary School.
- Forrest Road principal Kevin Aviles will be principal of Eddy Middle School.
- Eddy principal Shermaine Derrick will be principal of Rigdon Road Elementary, replacing Charleen Robinson, who died last month.
And superintendent David Lewis is scheduled to ask the MCSD board at its March 21 meeting to approve his selections to fill the pending principal vacancies at Dorothy Height to replace Sheffield and Double Churches Elementary School to replace Paula Shaw-Powell, who plans to retire at the end of this school year.
Asked to explain his rationale for the transfers, Lewis told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email, “From time to time, I transfer school-based leadership to address individual, school or district needs.”
Lewis called Shaw-Powell’s “a truly committed educator and leader within the Muscogee County School District. As the principal of Double Churches Elementary School for the past 17 years, she has demonstrated genuine care for her students and their educational development, embraced necessary change and cultivated a positive school culture. She is beloved and highly respected by students, staff, parents and colleagues alike. She will certainly be missed, but we thank her for her years of dedicated service and wish her all the best in her retirement.”
In an emailed interview with the L-E, Shaw-Powell said she is retiring after 42 years as an educator because it’s time to focus on herself.
During her tenure at DCES, Shaw-Powell said, she is most proud that “we moved from a school stuck in the 20th century with adult-centered thinking to a 21st century school with an emphasis on student personalized learning.”
And she leaves with no disappointments or regrets, Shaw-Powell said.
“Everything we’ve done has been with the needs of students, staff and community in mind,” she said.
Shaw-Powell added, “I am so proud of the work we have accomplished together as a family at Double Churches Elementary. This district and my DCE Wildcat Family will always remain in my thoughts and prayers. Our school saying is, “Once a Wildcat, Always a Wildcat!”
The other positions she had while working for 32 years in MCSD are:
- Fifth-grade teacher at Clubview Elementary School
- Fifth-grade teacher and science lead teacher at Dimon Elementary Magnet Academy
- Math and science instructional support specialist in the MCSD Elementary Education Department
- Assistant principal at River Road and Fox elementary schools.
Before working in MCSD, Shaw-Powell taught in several other school districts:
- 1980-82, National Teacher Corp intern, Omaha Public Schools, Nebraska.
- 1982-85, fourth-grade teacher, South Highlands Magnet, Caddo Parish Schools, Shreveport, Louisiana.
- 1985-87, fourth-grade teacher, Jeff Davis Elementary School (now Back Bay Elementary School), Biloxi, Mississippi.
- 1987-89, first-, second- and fourth-grade teacher, Brindisi Elementary School, San Vito Air Station, Italy.
Other than not waking up at 4:30 a.m. anymore, she plans to ”work a little and play a little” in retirement.
This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 9:41 AM.
