Meet the four new administrative leaders for Pitt County Schools
PITT COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT) — Four people have been appointed to administrative leadership positions within the Pitt County School System.
Dr. Jennifer James has been hired as the new PCS Director of K-12 Curriculum and Instruction. This role has been redesigned to better ensure quality education. Dr. James was an award winning leader at Innovation Early College High School since the school opened in August of 2018. She was selected as the Pitt County Schools Principal of the Year in 2023 and has been an educator for 19 years, 12 of which she served as a principal.
'I am grateful for the opportunity to serve Pitt County Schools in this new role,' Dr. James said. 'I look forward to working with senior leadership, our curriculum specialist and instructional coaches on strengthening the academic programs in our district. A strong foundation has already been laid, and I am looking forward to collaborating with others to realize our shared vision of inspiring and motivating all learners. Leaving Innovation Early College High School is bittersweet. The journey with the IECHS team has been incredibly rewarding, and I am proud of all we have accomplished together over the past seven years.'
Dr. Kirby Maness will serve as the new principal of Ayden-Grifton High School. Dr. Maness has been Ridgewood Elementary School's principal since January of 2023 and started at the school as an assistant principal in 2020. He helped the elementary school become the first in Pitt County to receive a Model Professional Learning Communities at Work School prestigious designation.
'I am excited to join the Charger family and partner with students, staff, families, and the greater Ayden-Grifton community,' Dr. Maness said. 'This school has a rich tradition, and I look forward to working together to elevate every student's opportunity to lead, grow, and succeed. I want to thank Dr. Lassiter for the opportunity to serve in this role and to lead such a remarkable school community. I am also deeply grateful to the students, staff, and families of Ridgewood Elementary School for the incredible journey we shared.'
Casey Hyatt will be the new principal for Innovation Early College High School. Hyatt previously served as the principal for Ayden-Grifton High School where she started in January of 2023. She won the Pitt County Schools Assistant Principal of the Year award in 2022 and has worked as an educator for 12 years.
'I'm honored to join Innovation Early College High School as principal and excited to lead a community where academic excellence and innovation drive student success,' Hyatt said. 'I'm deeply grateful to Dr. James for her exceptional leadership and the strong foundation she leaves behind. Building on that legacy, I look forward to fostering innovation, accelerating achievement, and empowering every student to grow as a confident learner and future leader.
Alison Covington will be Farmville's Sugg-Bundy Elementary School's new principal. She spent the last eight years in leadership roles at Belvoir and South Greenville. Covington won the Pitt County Schools and Wells Fargo Northeast Region Principal of the Year in 2022. She has been an educator for 20 years and has also spent time working with Falkland Elementary as an assistant principal.
'While I will deeply miss the amazing team at South Greenville Elementary, I am excited to begin this new chapter at Sugg-Bundy,' Covington said. 'It's an honor to join a school community with such a strong sense of purpose and commitment to students. I'm looking forward to working alongside all students and staff, learning from what's already been accomplished, and growing together. I'm excited for all we'll achieve!'
These educators will begin their new roles now and through the summer to prepare for the upcoming school year.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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During the 1800s, California's Native population was decimated by diseases, displacement and violence, including state-sponsored killings. The Yurok reservation was established by the federal government in 1855, confining the tribe to an area that covered only a tiny fraction of their ancestral territory. In the late 1800s, white settlers and speculators found ways to secure additional lands along the Klamath River where they could extract valuable redwood, in some cases by bribing U.S. General Land Office officials as they fraudulently acquired thousands of acres of timberlands. Today, the Yurok Tribe is the largest tribe in California, with more than 6,400 enrolled members. 'We are trying to recover from colonization,' said Amy Bowers Cordalis, a lawyer for the tribe and executive director of the Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group. 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