Gwinnett Daily Post

SUWANEE - Twenty-eight Gwinnett County school administrators have been selected for the third cohort of the district's training program for aspiring principals, the Quality-Plus Leader Academy, officials announced Monday.

The Academy, created to ensure the school system has high-quality leaders to fill vacancies created by retirements and school openings, is a central piece of Gwinnett County Public Schools' succession planning, said Glenn Pethel, executive director of leadership development.

The program will begin with an orientation in January, Pethel said. The cohort will meet for 12 eight-hour sessions throughout the year, and the first three meetings of instruction will be taught by Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks. Academy participants will also complete three 20-day sessions of residency at a school outside of the one in which they currently work.

"We have a strong belief that this is one of the most important things we can do to prepare them to be the very best and the most they can be," Pethel said. "They've got to be ready to hit the ground running."

Of the 67 school administrators who graduated in the first and second cohorts of the Academy, 38 are currently principals of Gwinnett County schools.

The members of the class of 2009 are:

Lynne Best - Duluth Middle

Amy Bryan - Riverside Elementary

Horace Buckley - Dacula Middle

Loretta Denmark - Nesbit Elementary

Debbie Durrence - Peachtree Ridge High

Jennifer Fero - Maxwell High School of Technology

Christina Godfrey - Patrick Elementary

Reuben Gresham - North Gwinnett High

Jeffrey S. Hall - Brookwood High

Todd Hamilton - Pinckneyville Middle

Sheri Hopson - Grayson High

Lisa Marie Johnson - Berkeley Lake Elementary

Clayborn Knight - Margaret Winn Holt Elementary

Lamont Mays - Frank N. Osborne Middle

Mark McCain - Duluth Middle

Kelly McConnachie - Norcross Elementary

Kimberly McDermon - Norcross Elementary

James Parrish - Peachtree Ridge High

Ricardo Quinn - G.H. Hopkins Elementary

Kimberly Reed - Freeman's Mill Elementary

Myrlaine Salter - Shiloh High

Eric Thigpen - South Gwinnett High

Pamela Valrie - Lilburn Middle

Melissa Walker - J.E. Richards Middle

Tommy Welch - Meadowcreek High

Christina Wimmer - Parsons Elementary

Chandra Young - Susan Stripling Elementary

Michael Zinn - Pinckneyville Middle