There were cheers and applause Monday night as trustees with Port Neches-Groves Independent School District announced the appointment of three elementary school principals.

The new principals will begin their new jobs during the 2018-2019 school year. They are:

• Kim Carter, who is replacing the retired Amy Gil at Port Neches Elementary School
• Kevin Schexnaider, who is replacing Ridgewood Elementary School’s Julie Gauthier, now an assistant superintendent
• Angela Abel, who is replacing Fae Sandifer at Woodcrest Elementary School.

The three new leaders are excited to embark on this new journey.

“I feel blessed the other administrators in this district entrusted me with their students and teachers to lead the way,” Carter, program support coordinator at PNGISD, said. “I am beyond blessed. I made a promise I will always motivate our school community by modeling a relentless pursuit of the pride, honor and tradition that is PNG.”

Carter has 23 years of service with Nederland Independent School District and one with PNGISD.

Schexnaider, who has 18 years of service with the district, is currently an assistant principal at Port Neches-Groves High School.

“It’s a great feeling (to be named principal) and Ridgewood is an incredible campus,” Schexnaider said. “I can’t wait top get started.”

Abel has 22 years service with PNGISD, two years with NISD and is currently assistant principal at Helena Park Elementary School in Nederland.

“This is really like a dream come true for me. It’s something I’ve been very excited about,” Abel said. “It’s an experience I can’t wait to jump more into. I’m just so blessed in my life with all of these opportunities with PNG and Nederland.”

The process to find fill the vacant principal positions began several months ago with a committee of teachers, principals and district administrators. Teachers and staff at each of those campuses created a profile on what they would like in a principal and this was used to guide the interview process through to the final candidates, Gauthier, assistant superintendent for administrative services, said. About 30 people applied for each of the three jobs.

“It was a tedious process. A lot of time, effort and energy went in knowing we are making a 20-plus year decision,” she said. “We are more than pleased with how the interview process turned out and excited about the new instructional leaders who will be on our campuses.”