Walton County schools choose new principals

“I am excited to welcome these outstanding leaders into their new roles for the upcoming school year,” WCSD superintendent Nathan Franklin said. “We are fortunate to have such talented, dedicated professionals ready to lead our schools. With proven track records of exceptional leadership and student success, we are confident in their abilities to continue moving these schools towards even greater achievements.”

Beth Morgan, assistant principal at Youth Middle School, was selected to replace retiring Principal Freda Doster at Sharon Elementary School. A seasoned professional, Morgan has over 17 years of experience in education with five years of experience in administration. Morgan began her career teaching special education in Gwinnett County and Bibb County. She moved to Walton County in 2011, working at Loganville Elementary and Loganville Middle Schools before transitioning into her current role as an assistant principal at Youth Middle School in 2015. Morgan holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgia College & State University (GCSU), a master’s degree from Brenau University and a specialist degree from GCSU.

“I am honored to have been selected to join the staff at Sharon Elementary School,” Morgan said. “Over the past 17 years, I have worked as a teacher, special education instructional specialist, and assistant principal. It is my goal to provide a safe, nurturing, and meaningful learning environment for all students. I am thankful and excited to have the opportunity to bring all that I have experienced and learned with me to the wonderful community at Sharon Elementary School.”

Transitioning into a new role at the same school, current assistant principal Ken Cline will replace retiring Principal Cindy Callaway next school year. Cline holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University, a master’s degree from Northcentral University and a specialist degree from Troy University. He is currently a doctoral candidate working on his dissertation at the American College of Education. In addition to his teaching experience in Muscogee County and Gwinnett County, Cline has served as an adjunct instructor and academic department chair at Purdue University Global and Kaplan University as well as a director at the Educational Opportunity Center in Hamilton, GA. He has served the Walnut Grove Elementary School community as assistant principal since 2013.

“I am excited to begin my new role as principal of Walnut Grove Elementary School,” Cline said. “I have enjoyed working as the assistant principal for the last seven years. Over the course of my 22-year career, I have spent more than half of my time working for the Walton County School District. As principal, I am committed to providing a safe, engaging learning environment for students, as well as a welcoming environment for families.”

Current Walker Park Elementary School Principal Brian Hobbs will transition to his new role as principal at Loganville Middle School, where he served as an assistant principal from 2011-2018 under retiring Principal Christy Bowman. Prior to beginning his career in administration, Hobbs worked as a physical education teacher at Youth Elementary School for eight years. Hobbs holds a bachelor’s degree from Armstrong Atlantic State University, a master’s degree from Walden University and a specialist degree from Lincoln Memorial University.

“I am extremely excited about the opportunity to return to Loganville Middle School as principal. As a former LMS student and administrator, I have become very familiar with LMS and its long-standing reputation of success,” Hobbs said. “The staff and students are very accomplished and hardworking which has led to a schoolwide culture of high expectations and success. I'm honored to serve as a principal in a school that I attended as a student and worked as an assistant principal. I look forward to working hard to provide LMS students and parents the highest-quality instruction possible.”

The Walton County School District collected teacher and staff feedback from each school prior to utilizing hiring committees composed of district administrators and parents to select each candidate. 

“We place the utmost importance on the process of hiring leaders in our schools. We understand the vital role that these individuals play in the success of our students, so we want to make sure that each candidate hired will best serve the specific needs of their school,” Franklin said. “We were fortunate to have an extremely impressive candidate pool for each of these positions and appreciate our hiring committees who devoted hours of their time to screening and selecting each candidate.”