By FULLER ROYAL
Staff Writer

Monday marks the official start of the school year for the Columbus County and Whiteville City Schools.

Between the two systems, nearly 10,000 students will arrive Monday morning to find one new superintendent, nine new principals and two fewer schools.

(See today’s Welcome Back to School insert for homeroom assignments, school times and fees.)

The Whiteville City Schools and its new superintendent, Dr. Randall Shaver, will welcome about 2,600 students to its five campuses, three of which have new leaders.

Lynn Spaulding is the new principal at Whiteville Primary School. Frederick Hill is the new principal at Central Middle School. John Westberg is the new principal at Whiteville High School.

Deanna Shuman is the principal of Edgewood Elementary and Bonnie Parks is the principal of North Whiteville Academy, the city’s alternative school.

In the Columbus County Schools, Superintendent Dr. Dan Strickland said he has a young crop of principals. There are six new principals in his 17 schools and only three of the 17 have four or more years of experience as principals.

In the Columbus County Schools, Mark Brown is the new principal of West Columbus High School, which also features the new WCHS Alternative Academy. He replaced Worley Edwards, who retired and is working as Waccamaw Academy’s headmaster this year.
Mark Bridgers returns for a second year as principal of East Columbus High School and the ECHS Alternative Academy.
Dale Norris begins his first year as principal of South Columbus High School and SCHS Alternative Academy.

He replaced longtime principal Dr. Maudie Davis, who retired and left to work in Horry County.

Richard Gore is principal of Old Dock Elementary.

Jeff Spivey is the new principal of Williams Township School. He had served as the school’s assistant principal and replaces Mitch Nance who retired this summer to work in Horry County.

Mike Mobley returns as principal of Hallsboro Middle School. Emmett Lay returns for his second year as principal of Evergreen Elementary School.

Miriam Davis is the new principal at Acme-Delco Middle School.

Kent Lovett is the new principal at Tabor City Middle School.

Debra Hammond returns as principal of Tabor City Elementary School.

Josephine Graham is the new principal of Hallsboro-Artesia Elementary School. She replaced Lynn Spaulding, who moved to Whiteville Primary.

Georgia Spaulding returns as Chadbourn Middle School’s principal. Harold Bellamy returns as Chadbourn Elementary’s principal.
David Pless returns as Cerro Gordo Elementary School’s principal.

William Wright returned as Boys and Girls Homes Elementary School’s principal.

Southeastern Early College, the county’s early college high school, began its second year of classes with nearly 100 ninth and tenth-graders, Aug. 6. It is a joint effort among the city and county schools and Southeastern Community College.
Laura Davis is the school’s principal.

Columbus Charter School, the 24th North Carolina Public School in the county, finishes its third week Friday. Steve Smith is the principal.

In June, the Columbus County Board of Education closed Nakina Alternative School.

It will reopen next year as a middle school, serving the Guideway, Old Dock and Nakina communities.

Fair Bluff Elementary was closed permanently last month by the county schools with no immediate plans to re-open.
In both school systems, nearly all teacher vacancies have been filled.

Strickland said that both local systems have been fortunate in their abilities to attract and retain teachers, despite higher supplements and sign-on bonuses in other school systems.

On Monday, Shaver and the Whiteville City Schools Board of Education welcomed more than 300 staff and faculty from its school system with a breakfast at Whiteville High School.

On Wednesday, the more than 900 staff and faculty of the Columbus County Schools gathered at South Columbus High School for the system’s annual convocation.

The highlight of the day-long event was a keynote address from Larry Bell, author of 12 Powerful Words. Bell has spent much of his educational career developing strategies to help students adapt to testing situations and to assist schools in “closing the achievement gap.”

Bell, who taught at Garfield High School, a school with more than 3,000 students speaking 36 different languages, was recognized for his innovative classroom strategies that allowed his so-called “tough kids” as well as his “gifted and talented” to excel.

For seven years, Bell served as the Supervisor of Multicultural Education for Prince William County.

Bell’s efforts in this position were recognized when he was given a $550,000 grant by the federal government to pilot his ideas in 1996, and again when he was selected as the Mary Hatwood Futrell Award winner by the Virginia Education Association in 1998.

Bell’s speaking fee was fully funded by sponsorships from community businesses and organizations.

The county’s convocation also hosted a vendor fair for teachers to learn about services offered by local companies.