2 new principals, 3 new assistant principals recommended by Muscogee superintendent
Two new principals and three new assistant principals will be appointed next week in the Muscogee County School District if the board approves the superintendent’s recommendations.
On the agenda for the April 18 meeting are the following recommendations from superintendent David Lewis:
- Monique Williams to be the next principal of Midland Academy, an elementary school.
- Keisha Cook to be the next principal of Midland Middle School.
- Samuel Brown to be the next assistant principal at Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts, a combined middle and high school.
- Kenneth Hampel to be the next assistant principal at Carver High School.
- Kelvin Smith to be the next assistant principal at Hardaway High School.
The agenda doesn’t explain why the current leaders in those positions would be replaced. The Ledger-Enquirer’s questions about these personnel moves weren’t answered before publication.
Monique Williams
According to the agenda and her resume, Williams has been an educator for 29 years and an assistant principal in MCSD since 2015, currently at Eagle Ridge Academy, an elementary school, and previously at Dorothy Height Elementary School.
Williams was an academic coach on the district level (2014-15) and at Johnson Elementary School (2010-14) in MCSD. She was a reading and literacy coach at Lake Ridge Elementary School in Clayton County (2006-10), an early intervention program teacher at Kemp Elementary and Primary Schools in Clayton County (2003-06), a second-grade teacher at Taylors Creek Elementary School in Liberty County (2000-03), a fourth-grade teacher at Wynnton Elementary School in MCSD (1999-2003), a first-grade teacher at a U.S. Department of Defense school in Germany (1997-99), a sixth-grade teacher at Carter G. Woodson Middle School in Virginia (1995-97) and a second-grade teacher at Wynnton (1993-95).
She earned a doctorate in teacher leadership from Walden University (2013), a specialist’s degree in curriculum administration from Nova Southeastern University (2003), a master’s degree in education leadership from Virginia State University (2000) and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Florida A&M University.
Keisha Cook
According to the agenda and her resume, Cook has been an educator for 25 years, all in MCSD. She has been an assistant principal at Spencer High Schools since 2018.
Cook was a School Improvement Grant administrator (2017-18), academic dean at Midland Middle School (December 2015 to August 2017), academic coach at Midland and Aaron Cohn Middle School (August 2015 to December 2015) and Carver High School (2009-15), and a math teacher at Kendrick High School (2001-09) and Baker Middle School (1997-2001).
She earned a doctorate in education administration and leadership from the University of Southern Mississippi (2013), a specialist’s degree in secondary education mathematics from Southern Miss (2004), a master’s degree in secondary education mathematics from Columbus State University (2001) and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Georgia Southern University (1997).
Samuel Brown
According to the agenda and his resume, Brown has been an educator for five years, all at Rainey-McCullers.
Brown has been the school’s fine arts department chairman since 2018, its magnet program coordinator since 2020 and its piano instructor since 2017. He also has been an adjunct faculty member in the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University since 2019.
He earned educational leadership certification from CSU (2021), music education certification through the Georgia Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy (2019), a master’s degree in piano performance from CSU (2017) and a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Bob Jones University (2015).
Kenneth Hampel
According to the agenda and his resume, Hampel has been an educator for 12 years, all in MCSD. He has been dean of Shaw High School in two stints (2020-present and 2018-19).
Hampel was a math teacher at Shaw (2019-20), a special-education teacher at Shaw (2014-17), Hardaway High School (2012-14) and Richards Middle School (January 2012 to August 2012), a special-education paraprofessional at Hardaway (2010-11), a healthcare assistant at West Central Georgia Regional Hospital (2007-11) and a bookkeeper at Continental Cleaners (2000-10).
He earned a master’s degree in education leadership from Columbus State University (2019), a master’s degree in special education from CSU (2014) and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from CSU (1998).
Kelvin Smith
According to the agenda and his resume, Smith has been an educator for 20 years. He has been assistant principal and athletics director at Manchester High School since 2019.
Smith was an English language arts teacher at Kendrick High School (2018-19), Stewart County High School (2016-18, plus athletics director), Charles R. Drew High School in Riverdale (2015-2016, plus building manager), Midfield (Ala.) High School (2014-15, plus building manager), Holt High School in Tuscaloosa (2013-14), P.D. Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham (2012-13), Bessemer City (Ala.) High School (2008-12) and Fairfield (Ala.) High School (2005-08), keyboarding and technology teacher at Leeds (Ala.) Middle School (2004-05), marketing teacher at Leeds High School (2003-04) and physical education teacher at Jess Lanier High School in Bessemer (2002-03).
He earned a doctorate in education supervision from Northcentral University (2018), a master’s degree in education administration from Capella University (2010), certification in secondary education from Miles College (2002) and a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications and marketing from Alabama A&M University (2000).
