-Press Release, Granville County Public Schools
At their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, January 7, the Granville County Board of Education voted to close Mary Potter Middle School and convert the campus to an educational support facility effective with the 2019-2020 school year.
Next academic year, students currently attending Mary Potter Middle School will merge with the students at Northern Granville Middle School’s school campus to create one single, unified middle school campus for the northern part of the county.
As the student population shifts from MPMS to NGMS next year, teachers and support staff will likely follow. GCPS administration has been working closely with staff to ensure all employees are supported in this process and are placed in appropriate positions throughout the district.
In order to move forward with beginning the transition for this merger of schools next academic year, Superintendent McLean has announced that the Principal for Northern Granville Middle School will be Dr. Brenda Williamson. “Principal Williamson has provided incredible leadership at Mary Potter Middle this year and we are excited about all she will accomplish at NGMS. She will begin in this role effective July 1, 2019.”
In the meantime, Principal David Hackney will continue to be the Principal at Northern Granville Middle School for the remainder of the 2018-2019 school year. “We are very proud of the hard work and dedication of Mr. Hackney at NGMS,” reported Dr. McLean. “I fully expect him and his staff to finish the year strong and have very successful academic results for their students. He has done a very good job serving the students of this community.”
Superintendent McLean went on to say that the task of combining these two schools will require a significant team effort from all staff at both schools, working closely together. “Dr. Williamson not only needs to finish strong at MPMS this year, but she will also begin the work of planning and implementing all that needs to be done to effectively transition our students, staff and resources together in time for next year.”
Dr. McLean further added, “Now that we will only have one larger middle school in the northern part of our county, it is more important than ever that this be a flagship school, offering the very best in academics, extracurricular and enrichment opportunities for our students. We are very excited about the future of Northern Granville Middle School – it truly will be “U-Knighted for Excellence!”
A team of administrators, staff, parents and students will soon begin the work of providing guidance and support to Dr. Williamson in this process. The district and both schools welcome parent and community support during this process.
