School board approves hiring of new assistant principals

The new team of administrators that will be leading Grady County Schools when the new term begins later this year is now in place.
On Tuesday night, the Grady County Board of Education approved the recommendation of Superintendent Lee M. Bailey to hire five new assistant principals.
The new assistant principals are Natalie Hudson- Northside; Leigh Stalvey – Shiver; Justin Amaro – Whigham; Christina Issac – Washington, and Zack Wilson – Washington.
“I applaud Dr. (Kermit) Gilliard and his team for the work they have done to complete the filling of all allotted slots. They have done a great job and I feel very good about the people we have hired and will be hiring tonight,” Superintendent Bailey said.
Natalie Hudson, the new Northside assistant principal, will also handle the duties of an instructional coordinator for the school. She has taught at Northside for the last nine years.
Ms. Hudson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Florida A&M University. She also earned a master’s degree in brain research from Nova Southeastern University and an education specialist’s degree in ed leadership and supervision from Albany State University. Hudson is a graduate of Cairo High School.
Leigh Stalvey comes to Grady County from Pelham City Schools. Stalvey will assume the job as assistant principal at Shiver. Currently, she teaches at Pelham Middle School, but she previously served for three years as an assistant principal at Pelham Elementary School. Stalvey began her career in Thomasville City Schools in 1998.
A 1993 graduate of Westwood School, Ms. Stalvey earned her bachelor’s degree from Valdosta State University and her master’s and education specialist’s degrees from Albany State University.
Cairo High School faculty member Justin Amaro is leaving the classroom to become the assistant principal at Whigham. He has been employed in Grady County since 2007. His wife, Amy, is the middle school band director at Shiver.
Amaro earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in adult education from Troy University. He is currently pursing his doctorate in education from Valdosta State University and expects to graduate later this year.
Christina Issac is no stranger to Washington Middle School, having taught there since 2002. Issac and Zack Wilson were both hired as assistant principals at WMS Tuesday night.
Ms. Issac earned her master’s degree in brain SMART education from Nova Southeastern University as well as her education specialist’s degree in ed leadership.
The new Washington assistant principal is also working on her doctorate in reading.
Zack Wilson is also a current Washington faculty member. For the past 12 years he has taught in the Grady County school system including one year at Whigham and the remainder at Washington Middle School. For the last six years he has also coached the eighth grade football team.
Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southwestern University. He completed teacher certification classes at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and earned teacher certification in health and physical education from Valdosta State University in 2003.
Wilson is wrapping up work on his master’s degree in teacher leadership from Kennesaw State University and graduates this month.
“I’m looking forward to working with all of these educators to help make our schools the very best they can be. The principals and their interview committees made their selections and I am sure they will do great things for our students,” Superintendent-elect Dr. Kermit Gilliard said Tuesday night.