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- [S113] Manes Funeral Home, (http://www.manesfuneralhome.com), 15 Feb 2011.
Emma Dean Carver obituary
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 7 Apr 2008.
Cosby starts year with new administration
Cosby School now has a divided high school and elementary school, each with its own principals. From left are, Manney Moore, elementary school principal; Mike Moore, assistant high school principal (and father to Manney); and Duran Williams, high school principal. (photo by Gary Butler)
When Cosby School opened its doors for the first day of school this week, its students had not one, but two new principals.
But Cosby students didn't have to strain to recognize new faces because both of the new principals, High School Principal Duran Williams and Elementary School Principal Manney Moore, have worked at the school for several years.
Williams, who graduated from Cosby School in 1979, joined the school seven years ago as assistant principal.
“My first job in the field of education was with the central office, teaching adult basic education,” he said.
“I worked under a federal grant with students who had below a fifth-grade reading level,” said Williams. “Part of my job was to train volunteer tutors to work with the students.”
Williams said he is excited about the new changes at Cosby School.
“Of course we are now separate from the elementary school, and Manney Moore is principal there,” he said. “And the high school's building project has everyone excited. It's the biggest thing to happen to the school in a long time.”
Williams said the target date for completion of the upper floor of the new building is October 1, but that it will likely be Christmas or later before the bottom floor is ready.
“It is going to mean a lot to the teachers, students, and the community to have this new building as a resource,” he said. “There are a lot of projects around here that will be possible to undertake when the vocational building is complete.”
Williams also said that, as exciting as the new building program is, perhaps even more exciting are new programs and new attitudes that he says have evolved this year.
“We've worked hard on appearance, both inside and out,” he said. “We mean to keep the grounds cleaner and show that we take a lot of pride in our school.”
Williams said that high school subject departments will have common planning periods this year, which will allow teachers a better opportunity to share ideas and techniques.
“And there is a new teacher mentor program started this year at the high school,” he said. “New teachers and teaching assistants will continue to meet throughout the year at various times with experienced teachers, and hopefully all of them can profit from the experience.”
Williams said one of his primary goals is to “focus a lot of the energy and the momentum that we have in the community, especially with our athletic programs, into our academic programs.”
Williams said that, although the high school and the elementary school had not originally been scheduled to be separate entities so soon, “Our school improvement plan indicated it would be the best course of action, so now we are separate,” he said.
Williams said that, because of the close relationship he has shared with Moore, he believes the two principals will be able to communicate well.
“I know there will be kinks to work out, but I believe our school will operate very efficiently this way,” he said.
Moore, who graduated from Cosby School in 1987, went on to graduate from Maryville College in 1991, got his masters in administrative supervision from Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) in 1998, and his Eds. from LMU in 1999, said he is equally excited about the new changes.
“This is my eighth year as basketball, and now football, coach here at Cosby, and I'm looking forward now to filling a completely new position,” said Moore.
Moore said that, although most of the attention recently has been on the high school's building program, “We are doing some new things here at the elementary school too.
“There is a new principal's office here, for one thing,” he said. “And we will eventually have a visitors' parking area closer to the elementary office, which will help with traffic problems, I believe.”
Moore said that buses will continue to pick up students at the same locations, however.
“The elementary school has done a good job in the past, and what we need to do is to continue what has already been done, and strive for even more improvement,” he said.
“A primary goal of mine is to make the working environment here more pleasant for teachers and students, and continue the success in the academic areas,” said Moore.
Moore said he is asking all parents, teachers, staff, and students to “be patient with all the changes going on, especially with the construction projects that will be causing inconvenience for a while.
“It will eventually be finished, and it will be worth the wait,” he said.
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