MISD Announces Staff Additions For Curriculum, JHM Principal, Police Chief

MARSHALL – Marshall ISD’s Board of Trustees approved recommendations for several positions Monday, including additions to the district’s Leadership and Learning department, a new MISD police chief and new principal.

Dr. Melinda Jennings, who has served as Principal at J.H. Moore Elementary the last two years, was named Director of Special Programs and Accountability.

Rachel Hooten, who served as Curriculum Coordinator for ELA Elementary and Balanced Literacy for the district last year, was named Director of Elementary Instructional Services.

Dr. Marquisha Iverson, who was the district’s Coordinator of Educator Quality, was named the Director of Secondary Instructional Services.

Nakeisha Pegues, who served as Assistant Principal at J.H. Moore last year, was named the new Principal at J.H. Moore.

Joe Arledge, who last month was named Interim Police Chief, was appointed as the new MISD Police Chief.

DR. MELINDA JENNINGS
Director of Special Programs and Accountability

Dr. Jennings has been with MISD for the last two years, serving as Principal at J.H. Moore Elementary. As the chief administrator and instructional leader for the campus, Dr. Jennings implemented a campus reconstitution plan to help turn around the school and also implemented the beginning stages of balanced literacy and a reflective practice model.

Dr. Jennings has served on the Accreditation Audit Team for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement from February 2014.

Prior to joining MISD, Dr. Jennings was Assistant Principal at Forest Park Magnet School in Longview ISD from August of 2011 until June of 2014. She was Principal at LISD’s Ware Elementary in 2010-2011, and was also Principal at LISD’s Valley View Elementary from July 2007 to June 2010.

Dr. Jennings was a teacher and literacy coach at Bramlette Elementary in LISD from 2001-2007.

She earned a doctorate from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2009, and holds a master’s degree from SFA which she earned in 2004. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Texas-Tyler in 1999.

RACHEL HOOTEN
Director of Elementary Instructional Services

Hooten holds a masters in Educational Leadership from Lamar University and is currently working on a doctorate in Educational Leadership. She earned a bachelors degree in Education from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2008.

She served in MISD this past year as the Curriculum Coordinator for ELA Elementary and Balanced Literacy. Prior to working in MISD, she was a Bilingual and Reading Trainer in Longview ISD in 2014-2015 after serving as an ELA Teacher at Judson Middle School in LISD from 2010-2014. She also taught fourth grade at Valley View Elementary in Longview from 2008-2010.

DR. MARQUISHA IVERSON
Director of Secondary Instructional Services

Dr. Iverson s
pent the last year serving as MISD’s Coordinator of Educator Quality, after having served as a Science teacher at Marshall High School from 2008-2015. She has also held teaching positions in MISD at David Crockett Elementary and William B. Travis Elementary, while also serving in the Texas ACE Program.

Dr. Iverson earned a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas Tech University in August of 2015. She earned a masters in Educational Leadership from the University of Louisiana-Monroe in May of 2011, and earned a bachelors degree in Chemistry from Grambling State University in May of 2007.

NAKEISHA PEGUES
Principal, J.H. Moore Elementary

Pegues was named Principal at J.H. Moore Elementary after having served this past year as the school’s Assistant Principal. She holds a bachelors degree from the University of Texas-Arlington and earned a masters in Education from the University of Texas-Tyler in 2013.

Prior to joining MISD, Pegues was a Curriculum Support Teacher at Bramlette Elementary in Longview ISD from 2013-2015. She taught fifth-grade Science at Bramlette from 2008-2013, and began her career as a fifth-grade Science teacher at Sam Houston Middle School in Marshall from 2005-2008.

JOE ARLEDGE
District Police Chief

In his first full year with MISDPD in 2015-2016 Arledge supervised campus-based officers as well as the day-to-day operations of the police department. He also conducted all criminal investigations within the school district and coordinated all after-hours school functions. He was named MISDPD Officer of the Year in 2015-2016.