Moya Pope taking over as principal at Jefferson County Middle
Moya Pope comes from a family full of educators, and even though she began her working life in grant management, the last 17 years in education has in many ways felt like a return home. As of July 1, she will be taking over as the new principal of Jefferson County Middle School.
“I was never going to teach,” she said. “My grandmother taught. My mother taught. All my great aunts taught.”
After several years in government, with an 8-year-old and twin 2-year-olds of her own, an opportunity to enter the teaching profession called to her.
“Every job I have had involved teaching,” she said. “I’ve done financial literacy classes, home ownership lessons.”
Already holding a Masters of Business Administration, she went back to school under the Georgia TAPP program and joined the staff at Louisville Middle School. She taught seventh grade math there for seven years and then became the school counselor and did that for eight more years. She was the first counselor at JCMS when it opened. She has been serving as an assistant principal there for the last two years.
She said that working in education has felt both natural and highly rewarding.
"I’ve been doing something like it for so long it’s just a real natural fit,” she said. “I love seeing the kids every day. I love being with my people. We all want the same thing, for students to succeed. It feels really good. It feels like I’m home.”
Pope said that the COVID pandemic has changed the public school experience for both students and teachers over the last two years.
“We learned that we are resilient and kids too are resilient,” she said. “I think we learned how to use our technology to our best ability and that sometimes too much technology isn’t a good thing either. We’ve learned how to be flexible. As educators, we stretch as far as we can stretch and still be OK.”
She said that looking forward she hopes to implement more STEAM initiatives and community partnerships at the middle school.
“We are strong at Jefferson County Middle School, we’re a strong staff,” Pope said. “We are the community and we need the community to come be with us at school.”
After all the changes COVID made to scheduling and virtual learning, Pope said that she is looking forward to getting back to the business of school and into her new position as principal.
“COVID has pushed us around a little bit, but we’ve been back full time since October,” she said. “I want students to be excited about school and learning and I want teachers to be excited about teaching.”
Jefferson County School Superintendent Dr. Molly Howard said that she was proud to announce Pope as the new principal.
“We look forward to her leading Jefferson County Middle School with a strong background knowledge of instruction and an awareness of students’ needs,” Dr. Howard said. “With the support and expertise of a mighty staff, I am confident Ms. Pope will continue the legacy of JCMS as an innovative institution that offers quality educational opportunities for all students.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Moya Pope taking over as principal at Jefferson County Middle
