Port Royal Elementary principal will move to Shanklin Elementary next year

Port Royal Elementary School principal Jo Shirley will be moving to Joseph S. Shanklin Elementary next school year.
The Beaufort County School District announced the move at a board meeting Feb. 21. Shirley said she applied for the job at Shanklin because she was ready for a bigger school and a bit of a challenge.
Shanklin is about 150 or 200 students larger than Port Royal, Shirley said.
The district has said the school is not making academic progress as rapidly as similar schools, which is why the principal job was posted.
Interviewees had to give a presentation on how they planned to boost Shanklin’s test scores and academic achievement.
“It’s really important in schools where there are challenges or in high poverty schools to build a family-like community,” Shirley said of her plan. “...(Shanklin’s) got all the bits and pieces they need, but it takes a lot of work, a lot of cheering and getting everyone moving in the same direction.”
Shirley has been at Port Royal Elementary about three years. In that time, the school has received the Palmetto Gold Award for general performance and the Palmetto Silver Award for closing an achievement gap.
Shirley said she also has encouraged parental involvement in the school during her time there. The school’s school improvement council is up for a state award for its work during the past year, which included planning for the school’s 100th anniversary.
“We really pulled to make it more representative and get a lot of people who were actively knowing what was going on in the school,” she said.
Shirley said she is sad to leave Port Royal Elementary.
“I will miss Port Royal dearly,” she said. “We have made great progress, and it’s very much like a family. I’ll miss that, but we’ll keep in touch, and it’s on to the next family.”
Current Shanklin principal Mark Mansell is moving to Robert Smalls Middle School next year as an assistant principal.