Greene County school officials announced Wednesday that new principals have been named for Doak and McDonald elementary schools.

Jennifer Teague, the current assistant principal of Doak Elementary School, will succeed Tony Kerns, who is retiring as principal of Doak School on June 30, according to assistant director of schools Judy Phillips.

Donna Smith, a current McDonald Elementary teacher, will become that school's new principal. Smith will succeed Clark Justis, who is retiring effective June 30, as McDonald principal, Phillips announced.

During a Wednesday afternoon interview, Teague said she has been the assistant principal at Doak Elementary for the past nine years.

She noted that she began her career at Doak Elementary as a teaching assistant and was assigned to Chuckey Elementary School, Greystone Elementary School and Newmansville Elementary School before returning to Doak Elementary School 18 years ago.

Teague called current Doak Principal Tony Kerns, "a great mentor." She thanked him for helping her prepare to become a principal.

Teague is married to Greeneville firefighter Bill Teague, Jr. They are the parents of a daughter, Cortni, now a sophomore at East Tennessee State University, and a son, Josh, who will be a junior at Chuckey-Doak High.

Smith is a veteran of 30 years in education and is currently a second-grade teacher at McDonald Elementary School.

During a Wednesday afternoon interview, Smith said she actually attended McDonald School as a student for eight years and has spent her teaching career there as well.

"I'm nervous, but I'm excited, too," Smith said. "I told the kids this afternoon that this is a good school and we're going to make it a great school."

Smith, who earned an education specialist degree last year from Lincoln Memorial University, also holds a master's degree in administration from East Tennessee State University.

She and her husband, Bill Smith, are the parents of two grown daughters, Brittany Hollingsworth, a teacher in Birmingham, Ala., and Sara Smith, a 2008 graduate of Carson-Newman College who has just been hired as a teacher by the Hamblen County School System.

Clark Justis will become the county school system's transportation supervisor on a part-time basis effective July 1, according to Phillips.

Although retired, Justis can work 120 days per year as a part-time school system employee, according to Phillips.

During a brief interview this week, Justis, who also is a Greene County Commissioner, said he plans to undergo hip replacement surgery in early June.