The Coweta County Board of Education met last week to approve three new principal positions for the Coweta County School System.

Derek Pitts, principal of East Coweta High School, was approved as the principal of the school system’s new Middle School Alternative School program, which will begin in the 2008-09 school year.

Monica Hughes, an assistant principal at Willis Road Elementary School, was named principal of Arnco-Sargent Elementary School, replacing Dr. Karen Barker, who was named last month to become the school system’s new Elementary Curriculum Director.

Denise Pigatt, an assistant principal at Western Elementary School, was named principal of Western Elementary School, replacing Michael Cutchen, who is retiring from the Western principalship in June.

Denise Pigatt is an 18-year educator. She taught at Elm Street Elementary from 1990-94, and then at Jefferson Parkway Elementary from 1994-2004. Pigatt served as an assistant principal at Newnan Crossing Elementary from 2004-2006, and then became Assistant Principal at Western Elementary in 2006. She earned her Bachelors in Education from the University of Georgia in 1990, and a Masters in Education from the State University of West Georgia in 2002.

Pigatt’s term as Western’s principal will begin on July 1, following Cutchen’s retirement.

Monica Hughes is a 13-year educator. She taught at Canongate from 1995 to 2002, and came to Willis Road as an Assistant Principal in 2002. She earned her Bachelors in Education from Georgia State University in 1995, her Masters in Education from the State University of West Georgia in 2001, and her Education Specialist degree from Argosy University in 2005.

Hughes’ term as Arnco-Sargent’s principal will begin on July 1.She replaces Principal Barker, who has been named to the school system’s Elementary Curriculum Director position. She will replace Nancy Royal, who is retiring at the end of March, 2008.

Barker will remain principal of Arnco-Sargent through June of 2008, and will fully transition to her new position as Elementary Curriculum Director during the summer. Pigatt and Hughes will continue in their capacities as assistant principals at their respective schools through June, but will work with the current Western and Arnco-Sargent principals in the coming months to prepare for their new principalships.

Derek Pitts is a 21-year educator who earned his Bachelor’s in Education Health, Physical Education and Science at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1987, his Masters in Administration from Georgia State University in 1993 and his Educational Specialist degree from Troy State University in 1998. He began his career as a teacher in 1987 at East Coweta High School and then later as a middle school teacher before becoming an assistant principal at East Coweta Middle and Northgate Middle Schools. He worked in Haralson County and Enterprise, Alabama schools for three years before returning to Coweta County as the Assistant Principal at East Coweta High School. He served as Elm Street Elementary’s principal in 2003-04, as East Coweta Middle School Principal 2004-06, and as East Coweta High’s principal since 2007.

Coweta County’s alternative school program is located at Winston Dowdell Academy, and works with students in grades 8 through 12. The county’s new middle school alternative program will split Winston Dowdell Academy’s focus beginning in the 2008-09 school year, so that high school students will be served by Winston Dowdell Academy, and alternative school students in middle grades (6th through 8th grades) will be served by a separate program.

No new teachers will be hired for the program, but the middle school alternative program will be administered by Principal Pitts and an additional counselor. The program will be geared toward meeting the specific educational needs of middle school students in the alternative education program.

Pitts’ new term as Middle Alternative School principal begins on July 1. The board’s action fills two school principal positions which have been advertised since the beginning of 2008. The school system has posted for applications for east Coweta High school and the two open elementary school assistant principal positions.

In a separate action, the Board of Education also approved contracts for certified teachers to be issued for the 2008-09 school year. Board members Harry Mullins and Winston Dowdell abstained from voting, because both members have family members who work as certified teachers in the school system.

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