Superintendent John Aitken recently announced the appointment of two new principals in Collierville Schools.
Dr. Georgette Cleaves will be the principal at Collierville’s new elementary school, which is scheduled to open in August 2018, and Tyler Salyer will serve as interim principal of Collierville Elementary School for the upcoming school year.
Cleaves has served as an assistant principal since 2005, first at Macon Hall Elementary School, then for the past six years at Schilling Farms Middle School. Prior to her career in school administration, she served as a professional school counselor in Shelby County Schools. Cleaves earned both a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in School Counseling from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, along with both an Educational Specialist degree and a Doctorate in School Administration and Supervision from Union University.
Cleaves began her new position on July 17 and will be charged during the upcoming school year with assembling a faculty and staff, assisting with the rezoning of the district’s 6,000 students in the kindergarten through eighth grade, and monitoring the conversion of Schilling Farms Middle School to an elementary campus.
Salyer has served as an assistant principal at Tara Oaks Elementary School for the past four years, having previously served one year as an assistant principal at Appling Middle School in Bartlett. He also spent time in both the Professional Development and Talent Management departments of Shelby County Schools after teaching fifth grade for five years at Southwind Elementary School.
Salyer holds both a Bachelor’s degree in Education and an Educational Specialist degree in School Administration from the University of Memphis, along with a Master’s degree in Education from Nova Southeastern University.
Beginning on July 31, he will replace current Collierville Elementary School Principal Melissa McConnell, who is relocating to Baton Rouge, La.
On April 17, the Collierville Schools Board of Education approved a reconfiguration plan that authorizes the conversion of Schilling Farms Middle School to an elementary campus and the relocation of Schilling Farms Middle School to the current Collierville High School campus for the 2018-19 school year.
Officials with Collierville Schools expects to open the new Collierville High School campus at the corner of Shelby Drive and Sycamore Road in August 2018. The new elementary school will increase the number of K-5 campuses in Collierville Schools from five to six.
Additionally, the relocation of Schilling Farms Middle School to the 1101 New Byhalia Road campus will provide relief from the overcrowding that currently exists at the 935 S. Colbert Street location.
