Northeast High School Principal Josh Herrington, left, welcomes new girls basketball coach Marcus Luckett.

Students at West Lauderdale Middle School in the fall will be greeted by two new administrators with Dr. Cody Killen joining the staff as the new principal and Robbi Cooper as assistant principal.

Killen comes to West Lauderdale from Newton County High School, where he has served as principal for the past two years. Prior to that, he served three years as principal of Neshoba Central Middle School and two years as assistant principal at Neshoba Central Elementary School from 2016 until 2018.

A native of Philadelphia, Killen earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Mississippi State University in 2007 and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of West Alabama in 2012. He taught biology, chemistry and special education at Neshoba Central for eight years before becoming a school administrator.

He earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration earlier this month from William Carey University.

Killen, who enjoys spending time with his 7-year-old son Cruz and their dog, Chase, is excited to take the helm at WLMS.

“West Lauderdale is a great school district, the elementary, middle and high school. They seem to have synergy, and I wanted to be a part of that,” he said.

The Lauderdale County School District Board of Education approved Killen’s hiring during its regular monthly meeting on Monday. The school board had approved hiring Cooper as assistant principal during a board meeting earlier this year.

Cooper comes to West’s middle school from Southeast Lauderdale High School where she currently serves as a graduation coach. She has been at Southeast for the past 10 years, previously serving as a counselor and testing coordinator at both the middle and high schools.

She received her bachelor’s degree in education and psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master’s degree in school counseling from Mississippi State University.

Prior to her time at Southeast, Cooper was a counselor, teacher and coach at Clarkdale High School, her alma mater, for a span of 10 years.

Cooper’s husband, Shay Cooper, is the baseball coach at Southeast High School. Their son, Camden, will be a senior at Southeast in the fall. Daughter Aubri Cooper will be an eighth grader at West Lauderdale next school year.

Cooper, too, said she is excited to be serving as assistant principal at WLMS.

“I think there is a tradition of excellence at West Lauderdale,” she said.

Both Killen and Cooper gave reassurances to teachers, parents, students and staff that new school leadership will not result in abrupt changes or a “re-invention of the wheel.”

“Anytime there is change, there can be uncertainty among the teachers, parents and students. What is this new person going to be like? But after the first few weeks, they will know that I am genuine and I definitely will put the kids first. Every decision we make will be in the best interest of the students,” Killen said.

Cooper agreed. “We are just going to keep doing the great things they are doing and support the teachers and work on building relationships with our teachers, students, staff and parents.”

Current WLMS Principal Glenn Boothe is leaving to become head of Lauderdale County School District’s alternative school, which is located in the back of Northeast Middle School. Assistant Principal Leigh Rodgers will move to the LCSD Central Services office to become Director of Data Management and Information after the school board approved her hiring during a board meeting earlier this year.

Also on Monday, the school board approved hiring Marcus Luckett as the new head girls basketball coach at Northeast Lauderdale High School. He also will teach world history.

A 1999 graduate of Carthage High School, Luckett earned his bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University. He has coached girls basketball at Newton High School, where he led the Lady Tigers to the MHSAA 2A semifinals, and Jefferson Davis County High School. He has coached boys basketball at Morton High School and Madison Central High School.

A coach for 18 years, Luckett has spent the past year working in school administration as the assistant principal at Laurel High School. But, he said, basketball is calling him back home.

“I didn’t really miss (coaching) until the championship run, and I went to Jackson to watch a game. My cousin was playing for the championship, and I told my wife, ‘Man, this is just like when you break up with a girlfriend and you see her with another guy. And you broke up with her, it was your decision.’ That is what it felt like,” he joked.

He said he is excited to be returning to the courts at Northeast High School.

“I have always been a fan of Northeast,” Luckett said. “Back when I was coaching, I coached against them, and the kids would always play hard. The community always came out and supported basketball, and especially girls basketball.”

He said it has been more than a dozen years since the Northeast girls have made it to the state playoffs, and he wants to bring that excitement and energy back to the team so they can make a run for a state title.

“I want to bring that same energy back and put together a team that is competitive and the community can get behind,” he said.