NEW SCHULTZ PRINCIPAL NAMED

Leland Gattis has been named the new principal at Louis J. Schultz School.

Gattis, currently the assistant principal at Central Junior High, was selected from a field of six internal candidates for the position at the seventh-grade center. Current Schultz Principal Rob Huff is vacating the job to become the district's business manager July 1.

Gattis accepted the position Tuesday, and no replacement has been named for the junior high assistant principal job. Assistant Superintendent Mark Bowles said the position has been advertised because there were not enough internal candidates initially.

"We've had several people come forward since, and we still have several strong internal candidates, but initially we only had a couple who expressed interest," he said. "The junior high division will require secondary certification or at least middle school endorsement, and that was another reason it looked like we would lose several of our candidates."

Bowles said Gattis will have to make some adjustments to work with younger students.

Also, the year at Schultz marks the first time some 350 students from throughout the district's five elementary schools come together, Bowles said.

"That creates a lot of unique situations for that building," he said. "Lee was a very strong candidate, and he should be able to handle those just fine."

Gattis said his major challenge will be helping students learn class schedules and how to navigate the building.

"I think that getting students ready or in the mindset of working on a scheduled set of classes and changing from teacher to teacher may be the toughest challenge," he said. "They're used to being around the same teacher most of the day, and now they'll have a different teacher every hour."

In addition to his building responsibilities, Gattis will work with junior high Principal Gerald Richards and Richards' assistant principal to develop programs and staff to prepare for the opening of a new high school in the district.

When the building being designed to house ninth through 12th grades opens, building enrollments throughout the district also will change. The present high school will become a seventh-eighth-grade junior high, Central Junior High will be converted to a fifth-sixth grade center, and each of the elementary schools will house kindergarten through fourth grades.

Gattis' position would end, as Schultz School is scheduled for closure when the new high school opens. However, Bowles said several factors could effect future principal assignments.

Gattis said he is excited about returning to the role of principal. In his fourth year as an assistant principal at Central Junior High, Gattis formerly worked as a principal in Delta School District. He began his career as an educator teaching industrial arts classes for 10 years at Marquand-Zion School.

Gattis and his wife, Debbie, live in Jackson with their two sons, Kendall, 5, and Robert, 1.