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NATCHEZ — An assistant principal at Vidalia High School as been named lead administrator at Cathedral Schools.

Jessica Llewellyn Carter will assume that role at Cathedral on July 1. She replaces former lead administrator Norm Yvon, who resigned in November 2020.

In a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, Cara Moody, development office coordinator at Cathedral, said Carter was the choice of the Principal Search Committee after an extensive search.

“She brings both teaching and administrative experience to Cathedral,” Moody said in the press release.

Carter has a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from University of Louisiana at Monroe, a Master of Education from Louisiana State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Louisiana State University.  She has 10 years of classroom teaching experience, nine of which were completed at Cathedral School.

Her current position is Assistant Principal at Vidalia High School.

“I am extremely honored to be the next Lead Administrator of Cathedral School. I want to thank Father Scott Thomas and the Principal Search Committee for entrusting me with the leadership of our great school. I am excited about what the future holds for Cathedral as we continue the proud tradition of Catholic education in the Miss-Lou,” Carter said.

Father Scott Thomas was out of town on Tuesday afternoon and not available for comment, said an employee at St. Mary Basilica. In an email to the parents of Cathedral students, Thomas said he is excited about Carter taking the lead at Cathedral.

“I am excited to bring aboard Mrs. Carter, an active member of St Mary Basilica and a mother of a Cathedral student. She comes to us with teaching and administrative experience at every level our school offers. Mrs. Kimberly Burkley and Mrs. Robin Branton will continue in their current positions,” Thomas wrote in the email.

“I’m grateful for Dr. John Jordan for the time and knowledge he has given to Cathedral Catholic School over this semester while working with Mrs. Burkley and Mrs. Branton,” he wrote. “I am forever indebted to the assistance I received from our interim superintendent Mrs. Karla Luke, Father Shoffner, and our Principal Search Committee members.

“As we continue through this holiest week of the year celebrating our Savior’s Passion and Resurrection, let us keep our school — its faculty, staff, and families — in prayer so that we can all work together in moving forward in building Cathedral Catholic School into the source of holiness and leadership that it was starting to be,” Thomas wrote.

Mrs. Carter is an active and engaged member of St. Mary Basilica.  She is married to Mark Carter, Jr., a 2003 Cathedral graduate. They have two daughters — third-grader Macy and one-year-old Maddie Paige.