Principal Whest Shirley wants to keep a good thing going at Vidalia Junior High School.

Shirley, who has been assistant principal at the school for three and a half years, got the nod to lead the school last month. He replaced Paul Nelson, who became the district’s Director of Academic Affairs.

The promotion came a little faster than he’d planned, but the job is one he’s ready to tackle, Shirley said.

“I was content at what I was doing,” he said. “I was in no hurry. But I’ve shifted gears.”

Shirley takes over a school labeled this year with “exemplary academic growth,” by the state. Shirley wants that growth to continue, and has two ways to get there.

“My main goal is to keep good faculty and staff here,” he said. “We’ve got a very strong faculty of veteran teachers.”

But some of those teachers will be considering retirement in the coming years, he said, and finding replacements is key.

The other major factor to improved student achievement is parental involvement, Shirley said.

State tests come in March, and the school faculty is already talking about them. The big push will come after Christmas, though, Shirley said.

And they’ll continue a mock testing program started several years ago.

As assistant principal at VJHS, Shirley’s main job was discipline.

His work encompasses more than that now, but the discipline years helped him transition into working with junior high-level children.

“This is the age they don’t know if they are kids and don’t know if they are adults,” he said.

“We have to help them. Sometimes we do that sternly, sometimes we ease them into maturity.”

Shirley taught for eight years at VJHS before moving into administration.

He also has experience at the high school level.