by Jerri Goodman

Depending on how you look at it, Metter Elementary Principal Lesa Brown has downgraded -- or upgraded.
She's shifted down in the age of her students, but moved up in the number of grades, teachers and pupils. From the two-grade Metter Intermediate School, complete with 12 teachers, Brown will move to the five-grade (Head Start through 3rd grade), 60-teacher environment at MES. Brown has served as principal of Metter Intermediate School for three years, after serving as assistant principal at Metter Elementary. This year, Brown will return to Metter Elementary, taking the reins from retired principal Charlotte Coursey. But, Brown said, parents do not have to worry that any drastic changes will occur.
"Basically, my philosophy of education and Mrs. Charlotte's philosophy of education are the same thing," Brown said. "So it's the same thing wrapped in a new package. I plan to continue her work. I'm not her replacement; I'm her continuation, so hopefully it will be a fluent transition.
"It's very important to me that our climate remain the same: Open and friendly."
Brown said that over the summer she has been amazed at the sheer enthusiasm of the teachers as they prepare for the new school year.
"I think I'm most excited about their enthusiasm," she said. "They're so excited, which I think is just characteristic
of a good elementary teacher."
In planning for the new year, Brown said she wants to target first-time families at MES.
"We have so many new parents we're planning to do a separate orientation for those that are new to our school system," Brown said.
And, she added, the goal of MES, as always, has been to have parents involved throughout the education process.
"Parents are always welcome,"
she said. "Teachers are very accessible. We're your partners. We're on the same team to accomplish the same goal."
Brown said the teachers will be working hard this year to maintain the remarkable
CRCT scores that were posted this past spring and to do even better this year.
"We exceeded the state in every area, so we're trying to maintain and move some of our kids from the ‘meets' category to the ‘exceeds' category,"
she said. "We're going to really work on bumping some of those kids who are high average over the top to ‘exceeds,' so that will be a real big focus for us, and we want to maintain those that struggle. They're getting it; we want to maintain them."

Courtesy of Metter Advertiser