TRENTON - The Jones County Board of Education announced Monday evening that Ben Thigpen is the new superintendent of Jones County Schools.

An educator and administrator in the Duplin County School System for the past 30 years, Thigpen will take office on Jan. 2, 2020. He succeeds Dr. Michael Bracy, who plans to retire in December.

The school district consists of Trenton Elementary, Comfort Elementary (Trenton), Pollocksville Elementary, Maysville Elementary and Jones Senior High School. Those five institutions serve close to 9,600 residents.

"Jones County is very similar to where I work," Thigpen said. "It's community-based, people care about their schools and their kids. The Board members are all committed to it. The more I found out about it, the more I was attracted to it.

"I think it's just a fantastic place. I'm just excited about the opportunity."

Thigpen has experience with a wide range of topics from curriculum to federal programs to athletics to personnel. He's dabbled in each aspect of the school system and understands the complexities that create challenges on a daily basis.

As superintendent, he hopes to connect the people, the schools, the organizations and the communities together. Thigpen said collaborative goals are necessary to benefit the students academically and help them emerge as productive members of their respective communities.

"We have to set them [goals] together - the administrators, the teachers, the board members and the community all have to part be of it," Thigpen said. "[We] will be getting feedback from the people, gathering information from them about which direction we need to go. Also, we want to continue to build on what Dr. Bracy has done. He's done a great job."