NATCHEZ — Natchez-Adams School District Interim Superintendent Fred Butcher said he believes the district can start developing its own principals and central office staff.

The district is starting an administrator’s academy program in hopes of making his beliefs become a reality.

When Butcher was working in the central office at the Concordia Parish School District, he developed a similar administrator academy program.

“It has been very successful,” Butcher said. “Most of the administrators in the Concordia Parish system have gone through the academy.”

While reaching out of the district for administrators is not a bad thing, Butcher said a certain percentage need to come from within.

“Administrators who are home grown are more familiar with the terrain,” he said. “They know the people in the system and the community better.”

This program encourages interested teachers to seek out administrative degrees by offering them financial stipends and training resources. The program works in three phases and is limited to teachers with two years experience in the school district.

Butcher said he hopes to take 20 people into the administrative program. While he said preference would be given to those who have already started on their administrative license work, the district will look at applications from those who are aspiring to be administrators.

“All 20 will not make it,” Butcher said. “But hopefully by the end of the process, we will have 10-12 people who have completed their training.”

The deadline for teachers to join the fall 2016 program is Sept. 9. Teachers must answer essay questions including their vision of his or her role of a school administrator, as well as the role of the administrator in dealing with students, parents, school staff, student discipline and school pride.

An applicant must also have a positive letter of recommendation from his or her principal.

The initial level is the trainee, who will perform extra duties and complete an extra week of work on top of completing six hours of coursework in an administrative program. The trainee gets an additional $1,800 plus one week’s base salary.

At the second level, intern, the aspiring administrator will do substantial work toward certification requirements and will work two extra weeks. The intern receives $2,400 and two weeks base salary.

The third level, assistant, will work 20 extra days and receive a $3,000 stipend. The assistant will complete his or her certification.

The additional work in the academy will revolve around school organization and administration, student services, curriculum and accountability, physical plant management, school and community relations and personnel evaluation.

“There will be after school and Saturday meetings,” Butcher said. “In the program, it would expose a potential administrator to the entire gambit of being an administrator.”

Butcher said the academy is also beneficial to the district beyond being able to grow its own principals and assistant principals.

“You’ll have someone who has had a chance to work with our principals,” he said. “You’ll be getting a bird’s-eye view of exactly what you are getting before you make a hire.”