Stephensville has Principal of the Year semifinalist

Stephensville Elementary, tucked away between Lower St. Martin and east St. Mary, doesn’t get a lot of media attention.

But the school, with its 133 students in pre-K through eighth grade, is getting some time in the spotlight.

Christopher Shirley, nearing the end of his fourth year as Stephensville Elementary principal, is one of 24 state semifinalists in the Louisiana Department of Education’s Principal of the Year program.

Shirley, a Morgan City native, said he didn’t enter the profession for the awards.

“But it’s something that’s nice to hear,” he said.

He thinks it’s good to hear because of what it says about the school’s teachers and staff.

Shirley went on from Morgan City High to Nicholls State for a year, then to LSU, where he received a bachelor’s degree with a double major in French and philosophy. He later returned to Nicholls for his master’s in education.

Shirley taught juniors and seniors at Franklin Senior High for five years, then taught for a year at Stephensville.

In his second year at Stephensville, he was the principal.

He used the term “shipshape” to describe the school when he became principal

“Recognizing good people for doing the good they do is all that school needed,” Shirley said.

Stephensville poses some unique challenges for its administrators and faculty.

Students leaving the eighth grade in Stephensville move on to a much bigger school in a neighboring parish — Morgan City High.

“We do have a lot of students who say it’s an adjustment when they transfer,” Shirley said.

Social media helps students make acquaintances, he said. And he promotes athletics as a way for freshmen hoping to fit it.

His advice to any potential successors?

“Don’t rock the boat,” Shirley said. “Keep the good things going. Find ways to be useful and supportive to the people who are doing the good work.”

Shirley is married to April Leonard. They have a son, Jack, who’s a third-grader at Stephensville Elementary.

Teacher and Principal of the Year semifinalists will be honored at a banquet July 30 in New Orleans.

Another semifinalist has a Franklin connection. Ponchella Doucet, the Jobs for America’s Graduates teacher at Franklin Senior High, is one of 24 Teacher of the Year semifinalists.

And Katherine Aucoin of Napoleonville is another Principal of the Year semifinalist.