Mr. Larry Wooldridge (Principal) announced his retirement from JCPS in an email to the faculty Monday afternoon. Here are the contents of the email in its entirety.

Colleagues:

The opportunity to serve our students, parents, and you the past eleven years has truly been a blessing in my life. Words fall short of expressing the gratitude I have for the work you do and for the support you have given me over the years. Manual is truly a special place. As many of you know, I have discussed dreams of pursuing some sort of ministry in the future. Well, I believe the future is now. I have been offered a position with the Christian Academy School System as Middle Principal for 2013-14. My family and I feel this is the direction God is leading us at this time. It is a perfect blend of my 17 years of education experience with my calling into the ministry. As a result, I will be retiring from JCPS effective July 1st. I am excited about my future and answering His call. Manual is an amazing place and I look forward to watching its continued success. I appreciate your continued support as we finish this year strong. I will always be a Crimson!

Take care,

Larry Wooldridge

 

Mr. Wooldridge explained that next week, a selection committee will start the process of searching for a new principal. By the end of this school year, there could be a new principal in place. The selection committee will include the assistant Superintendant parents, teachers, administrators, and some students.

“After much thought and prayer and asking other folks to pray, I made the decision this past week. I’ve always wanted to do something in the ministry, not knowing what it could it be. Either as a lead pastor, or as a musician, or just something in some form of ministry, never dreamt of a position such as this, that encompasses all my skill sets, but this is the answer of prayers. 27 years of education experience coupled with what my passion is, which is ministry, so this is the perfect fit. I’m excited. I will be the middle school principal at Christian Academy,” Wooldridge said.