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Penny Gorum, a Greenville native and seasoned educator with nearly three decades of experience, has been appointed principal of Greenville Middle School, effective June 1. The position became available as current Principal Angelica Crenshaw requested a voluntary transfer to the district office as a special education specialist. 

“I fell in love with being able to help orchestrate instead of just doing the work,” Gorum said of her shift from the classroom to administration. “In a classroom you serve the students but in leadership you get to serve the students, the teachers, the parents and partners in the community.”

Gorum brings 28 years in education to the role, including 12 years as principal of Blackmon Road Middle School in Muscogee County, Georgia. She has also served as an assistant principal and classroom teacher. Butler County School Superintendent Joe Eiland expressed confidence in her leadership. 

“We’re looking forward to the experience that she brings to the table,” Eiland said. “She’s a 28-year educator, one year as an assistant principal, 12 years as principal of a very, very high-performing middle school in Georgia. So she is very familiar with the middle school atmosphere.”

Gorum holds three degrees from Troy University: a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education (1996), a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership (2007) and a Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership (2009). She graduated from Greenville High School in 1992.

“I love the middle-school age,” Gorum said. “At that age they have the entire world ahead of them. The sky is the limit and I get to help make sure they develop the skills to prepare them for that world.”

Returning to her hometown is especially meaningful, Gorum noted.

“My oldest daughter Haley always said that when she grew up she was going to move back to Greenville and that’s exactly what she did,” Gorum said. “It’s special that she heard about my life growing up there and wanted that for herself. For years I’ve said that I would move back to Greenville when I retired but there’s no better next chapter in my career than to serve the classrooms that I actually sat in.

“There’s something special about Greenville and a small town community,” she added. “I’m excited to build my team and bring in that community because it takes all of us to invest in the schools…alumni, volunteers, churches, businesses and civic organizations.”

Gorum will relocate with her family this summer and begin preparing for the 2025-26 academic year.