Students at Warrenton Elementary and Sherman Avenue Elementary schools could get a little mixed up when school starts Aug. 4.

Instead of principal Ray Hume greeting students arriving at Warrenton as he’s done for five years, he’ll be at Sherman Avenue. And Sherman’s former principal Dr. Janice Hatcher has moved to Warrenton.

“I’m so excited,” Hatcher said. “I’m going to be out that front door when those children get off the bus, with a big smile on my face, telling them I can’t wait to meet them and see them in their new classrooms.”

Hume said just about the same thing. “I’ll be out there to meet the buses,” he said. “I knew every child at Warrenton and called them by name. I’m starting here at Sherman Avenue not knowing the first child’s name but I’ll learn them. It may not seem important on the big scale of things, but when a child knows you know their name, they know you care about them.”

Hume and Hatcher learned in early June that Vicksburg Warren School District Superintendent Dr. James Price wanted them to switch. Both started in their new schools July 13, Hume said.

“If he thinks it’s good for the district that’s where I want to be,” said Hume.

“He saw the big picture,” Hatcher said, “and he knows each of his principals’ strengths.”

“It is an effort to utilize their strengths,” said Price. “Mr. Hume is people-oriented and community-oriented. I need that there right now. Dr. Hatcher’s strength is curriculum and instruction. She’s by-the-book with elementary education.”

Sherman Avenue Elementary, located just off U.S. 61 North in an area dominated by business and industry, needs to make some personal connections and promote a stronger identity, Price and Hume suggested.

Hume’s goal is to motivate parents and local business people to get involved in the school. “We earnestly seek the involvement of the parents and the community,” he said.

Price said he’s seen evidence from various sources that there are questions about the school. “It’s what we’re hearing — that ‘something’s just not right out there.’” He said Hume’s just the person to combat that negative image. “I’ve seen him do it before.”

“For some reason there’s been a real disconnect between what wonderful stuff is happening at this school versus what one might hear in the larger community,” Hume said.

Price would like to see a coalition or partnership of sorts forged with business and industry leaders in the area, perhaps drawing on volunteers as tutors and mentors.

At Warrenton, Hatcher plans to call on her own experience and enthusiasm.

“I want to give time and support for professional development,” she said. “I am always excited about a new change and a new challenge. I feel I bring with me here what will serve several particular needs.”

Hatcher said she plans to be involved in individual classrooms, observing teachers and bringing teachers together to share techniques.

Warrenton Elementary comprises kindergarten through grade 6, and has about 430 students. The school was built in 1968, and might see some additions soon if the district is awarded construction bond funds sought in June.

Sherman Elementary is a school of about 650 students from prekindergarten through grade 3. Physically it sits on the same site as Warren Central Intermediate, but the two are separate schools with separate administrations.

The student population in the district is expected to hold steady in the 2009-2010 school year with about 9,000 students — about 5,000 in the elementary schools, which comprise Dana Road and Sherman Avenue with kindergarten through grade three; Vicksburg Intermediate and Warren Central Intermediate with grades four through six; and Beechwood, Bovina, Warrenton, South Park, Redwood and Bowmar Avenue with prekindergarten or kindergarten through grade 6; and close to 4,000 at secondary levels which compriseVicksburg and Warren Central junior high schools and Vicksburg and Warren Central high schools. The district also has one alternative school, the Grove Street School, for students in kindergarten through grade 12.

Sherman Avenue/WCI and Dana Road Elementary/Vicksburg Intermediate south of the city are the newest-built schools in the district, opening in 1999, and Bovina Elementary was reopened last year after being closed when Sherman Avenue/WCI opened.

Hume has been with the district for more than 20 years, starting out as a history teacher and soccer coach at Warren Central High School before moving into administration at Vicksburg Junior High, where he served 11 years first as assistant principal and then principal. He jokes about moving “down the ladder” from high school to primary grades, but Hume is proud of his career and has no plans to retire.

Hatcher began teaching in the district in 1978. She has more than 20 years of classroom experience including eight years teaching first grade and seven teaching second. She has also taught third, fifth and sixth. She is beginning her 10th in administration, serving three years with Catholic schools in Jackson, then coming back to Vicksburg as assistant principal at Warren Central Intermediate before taking the reins at Sherman Avenue.

“After 30-plus years, every year is a new challenge and a new beginning,” she said. “I’m dreaming up a lot of new things to do.”

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com