Linwood, Parkwood schools get new principals

mbrown@sunmulti.com

The Houston County Board of Education appointed Amanda

Brantley as principal of Linwood Elementary School during Tuesday’s Board

meeting. A 13-year veteran educator, she currently serves as the assistant

principal for instruction at Northside Middle School.

“I am so excited to have this opportunity to be the

principal at Linwood Elementary School,” exclaimed Brantley. “I welcome this

opportunity to work along with the Linwood Elementary faculty and community.

It’s great to be a Linwood Leopard!”

A product of the Houston County School System, she attended

Centerville Elementary, Northside Middle and Northside High.

Brantley earned a bachelor’s degree in education at Mercer

University. She also obtained her master’s, specialist and doctorate in

educational leadership at Mercer.

She began her teaching career at the Methodist Home for

Children and Youth K – 8th grade. In 2002, she was hired at Lindsey Elementary

as a fifth grade teacher and the literacy coach. After teaching for 10 years,

she was selected as the assistant principal at Northside Middle in July 2010.

The Houston County Board of Education also appointed Janet

Sorrell as principal of Parkwood Elementary School during the Board meeting

Tuesday. An educator for 14 years, she currently serves as the assistant

principal for instruction at Shirley Hills Elementary School.

Sorrell remarked, “I am excited about serving the students and families of our

community and look forward to all the possibilities and achievements that lie

ahead for Parkwood Elementary School.”

She received a bachelor of science from Florida State University, a master of

arts in teaching from Georgia College & State University, a specialist in

educational leadership from Columbus State University and a doctorate in

educational leadership from Argosy University.

Sorrell had a career in the middle Georgia area for several

years as a certified diabetes educator before she began teaching in Houston

County. She taught science at Northside High for seven years before joining the

Shirley Hills Elementary administration.

Rose Powell is the new director of testing. She is currently

assistant principal for instruction at Houston County High School and has been

in the school system for 14 years.

In other business matters, the board approved the transfer

of 0.36 acres of property to the City of Perry. This tract is located adjacent

to the Perry Primary School campus on the opposite side of Sunshine Avenue.

This is property the city uses for its recycling program.

The board will purchase 15 new school buses at a cost of

more than $1.6 million and 187 new SMART document cameras at $455 per camera

(total cost more than $85,000). The cameras are for classrooms that do not have

any document camera technology.

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