Summer Shade to get new principal

By GINA KINSLOW
Glasgow Daily Times

EDMONTON June 26, 2009 12:15 pm

— Summer Shade Elementary will soon have a new principal.
Ron Hurley, who has been principal of the school for three years, will remain with the Metcalfe County School District, but will be in charge of several district programs during the 2009-10 school year, including director of the 21st Century Community Learning Center, preschool and professional development coordinator and extended school services coordinator.
Hurley will be working for the district on a part-time basis. It was a decision he made so he could spend more time with his family.
Leaving Summer Shade is not going to be an easy thing for him to do.
“It was the hardest decision I had to make in my time in education, because I love the kids and the parents,” he said. “I just thought it was an opportunity to work less days and spend more time with my family.”
The school district posted the principal’s position at the first of the month. Superintendent Pat Hurt is scheduled to meet with the school’s site-based decision-making council on July 6 to review applications for the job.
“They hope to make their decision by July 20,” she said.
Hurley’s new responsibilities will allow the districts instructional supervisors, Bennie Stephens and Rita McMurtrey, to spend more time with schools on curriculum, instruction and assessment, Hurt said.
“It also gives Rita McMurtrey time to serve as part-time principal of the new sixth grade center,” she said.
McMurtrey will be working with Allen Trotter, principal at Metcalfe County Middle School, to prepare sixth-graders for middle school.
“We are excited about the changes in roles because we know it strengthens our structure to better serve student and address individual needs,” Hurt said.