A new team of leaders will soon be taking the helm of Morgantown Elementary School. McLaurin Elementary School Administrator Carrie Cupit has been selected as Morgantown’s new interim principal.

Carla Evers and Edward Reed, also district employees, will become interim assistant principals.

A group of Morgantown staff and parents attended a meeting Friday to discuss the changes.

&uot;We are embarking on a new path at Morgantown, and I’m going to need your help,&uot;&160;said Natchez-Adams Superintendent Dr. Carl Davis.

These changes follow the pending retirement of Morgantown Principal Evelyn Smith on Dec. 31.

Morgantown’s two assistant principals, Bettye Bell and Dr. Charlotte Franklin, will move to similar positions elsewhere in the the district.

Bell is going to the Central Alternative School and Franklin will go to Frazier Primary School.

Officials hope the changes will better communication and leadership at Morgantown.

&uot;I am not thinking about any individual in a negative or positive way,&uot; Davis said. &uot;This is for the kids.&uot;

Several Morgantown employees expressed excitement over the changes.

&uot;We are going to have a whole new family. That’s kind of neat,&uot;&160;P.E. teacher Sally Taylor said. &uot;We’re always family at Morgantown.&uot;

Cupit, a 23-year district employee, said she has high hopes for her new position.

&uot;I consider it an honor and a privilege to be selected as your interim principal at Morgantown Elementary,&uot; Cupit said.

She said it will take teamwork to educate the Morgantown students.

&uot;I love people – all kinds of people,&uot; Cupit said. &uot;I believe we learn from each other.&uot;

Eva Dunkley, education co-chairman for the Natchez chapter of the NAACP, said she knows from working with Cupit that she will do what is best for the students.

&uot;With the system being over 80 percent black, I would have loved to have seen another black principal there,&uot; Dunkley said. &uot;If it was not possible, then I am pleased with the placement of Carrie Cupit.&uot;

Dunkley said she will be watching the changes to see how things progress.

New assistant principals Evers and Reed also have administrative backgrounds.

Evers is being transferred from Frazier Primary School, where she serves as an assistant principal and teacher.

Reed is a teacher at Natchez Middle School who also has assisted in administration.

The district plans to review the performance of all interim employees this spring and will eventually fill Cupit’s vacant position at McLaurin, Davis said.