By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A former Meadow View Elementary School assistant principal will take over as the new head of Creek View Elementary School after she was named to the position during a July 25 special-called Alabaster Board of Education meeting.

The School Board voted unanimously during the meeting to name Charissa Cole as the new CVES principal. Cole will take over from former CVES principal Brent Byars, who recently was named the principal at Thompson Intermediate School.

“I appreciate your trust in me. I’m thrilled to be at Creek View,” Cole told board members after they approved her as the new principal.

Cole has been an assistant principal at MVES for the past eight years, and was a music teacher at the school for eight years prior. She taught at Creek View for two years before moving to MVES.

Cole said she is looking to foster collaboration between Alabaster’s two elementary schools, and said she is planning to continue the work Byars started at the school.

Alabaster School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers said Alabaster City Schools received 35 applications for the CVES position after Byars’ departure, and said a committee of ACS central office staff members interviewed the top candidates over the past several days.

“We are very fortunate to have quality people in our system who applied,” Vickers said. “We feel like we’ve selected an outstanding leader who will continue the great things we’ve got going on at Creek View.”

In addition to Cole and Byars, this summer has seen several administration changes at Alabaster schools. Former Thompson High School Principal Dr. Daniel Steele is now the principal at Thompson Sixth Grade Center, former TSGC principal Neely Woodley is the principal at Thompson Middle School, former TIS Principal Dr. Ke Jones has been named the school system’s federal program director and former Saraland Elementary School Christopher Tangle is now the THS principal.