New Principal Preview: Dr. Carla McCaleb at Ocean Springs

Over at Ocean Springs Middle School, one person is hard at work in her new role preparing teachers and staff for a successful school year.

With less than a week to go before students return to the hallways and classrooms of Ocean Springs Middle School, one new face at the school is already hard at work to make the first day of school a great one for students. “I’m feeling very excited. I cannot wait for our students to come on campus. We’ve got lots of fun and exciting things planned for them on their first day of school.”

Dr. Carla McCaleb is the new principal at Ocean Springs Middle School. Now, heading into her 22^nd year in the Ocean Springs School District, this is her first principal position following seven years as an assistant principal at Ocean Springs High School.

The mother of two and grandmother of four may live in D’Iberville, but has always considered the Ocean Springs learning community to be home. “It’s very much home.  I would not want to be anywhere else. It’s a wonderful place to be and there’s just no other place to be.”

As an assistant principal, McCaleb provided support and helped execute the principal’s vision of a school. Now, as a principal herself, she gets to work with her staff to create a vision for the school. “Now that I’m the actual principal, my two assistant principals, we’re talking a lot about that, about support, about having one main goal in mind.”

That vision includes a student-first approach. “Student achievement, we want student relationships, we want to bring in our parent communication more. We just, we want to be a school district that is transparent, but student focused.”

Getting students ready for the future is one of the key parts of the middle school experience. “We want them to go prepared. I want all of these students that leave here to be prepared to enter high school.”