Bentley named Banks County Middle School principal

HOMER – Banks County Elementary School Assistant Principal Nancy Bentley has been named principal of Banks County Middle School.

Bentley was approved for the position during Monday night’s Banks County Board of Education meeting, and she assumed the new position Tuesday.

“Nancy is a long-time veteran here in Banks County,” said Banks County School Superintendent Chris Erwin. “Matter of fact, she’s been with us 17 straight years, the last seven as an administrator in our system. We just really think a lot of her. She’s a very professional person, and also a very student-centered administrator. That meant a lot to me.”

Erwin said he looks forward to Bentley serving in the new capacity.

“This is somebody that the students will know,” he said. “She works very hard in her career, I have noticed, to get to know the students and then try to help them. She has a tremendous curriculum background, where she’s been an instructional lead teacher for us.”

Bentley is well versed in the recent Georgia Performance Standards and Common Core, he said.

“She fits a mold of the type middle school principal we were looking for,” Erwin said. “It was a choice that will benefit children here for a long time.”

New Habersham County School Superintendent Matthew Cooper, who formerly held the principal’s position, had good things to say about his successor at BCMS.

“Nancy Bentley is one of the best school administrators I have ever worked with,” Cooper said. “Her values system is built around what is best for students. She has a tremendous work ethic and understands what it takes to help all students experience success. She will be very successful as a middle school principal.”

Bentley sent an email to the faculty and staff of BCMS.

“I wish to share my excitement about the opportunity to team with you as the new principal of the greatest middle school in the land,” her email states. “BCMS has a reputation of excellence, and I feel fortunate to return home to such a great school. I look forward to working with all of you, the students, the parents, and the community to continue the excellence you have established.”

Bentley is a graduate of Habersham Central High School. She completed her education specialist degree in 2001 at Lincoln Memorial University. She holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Piedmont College.

The naming of Bentley follows the recent selection of new Banks County High School Principal Dr. Joseph Goodroe.

“Dr. Jody Goodroe had been an associate superintendent in Dade County,” Erwin said. “He had been an assistant principal at a large high school in Carroll County, and had been a math teacher in Carroll County and Gwinnett County. He comes with a very diverse background, and always had a passion for two things that we noticed: One was to be a high school principal; the other was for Banks County.”

Goodroe was interested in becoming a part of the Banks County School System.

“He’s from Dacula and he’s got relatives here in Banks, and he enjoys this part of the state, and had kind of watched us from afar, he said, and had been impressed with some of the things we had been doing and accomplishing here and he wanted to be a part of the team,” Erwin said. “I will tell you a very bright young man, who completed all three of his degrees from the University of Georgia.”

“Dr. Goodroe is somebody I think that you’ll see has got a lot of energy, and again another one of those educators that I think will spend a lot of time with the students,” Erwin said. “That was something that was important to us as a board of education is to get the administrators that really enjoyed being around children, and trying to help children.”

Replacing two principals in a short time is unprecedented in the past decade in Banks County.

“We haven’t changed over much in administration in the 10 years I’ve been here,” Erwin said. “To get two principals out of four in one year like this, that’s unusual. But I think we had one inside that was ready to step up to take on that role, because following Matthew Cooper’s going to be difficult because he was such a good middle school principal. That staff really supports Nancy. They know her and they love her there because of her time teaching and being an administrator there.”

“Dr. Goodroe has gotten in here the last three weeks and is already making an impact at that [high] school,” Erwin said.

“It’s a little bit different year for us with this, but we’re excited about the changes,” Erwin said. “We do our homework when it comes to trying to hire good people here in Banks County. Both of these two are going to make a positive impact on this community.”