By Jeremy Weldon

North Delta School has announced the hiring of three new faculty and staff for the upcoming academic year.

Betsy Hartley is the new Guidance Counselor, following the retirement of Susan Lewis; Connie Hentz will be the Elementary Computer instructor and Yearbook sponsor. She will also serve as a technology integration specialist for other teachers; and Chad Kelly is now the head baseball and softball coach.

Ashley Johnson, Director of Development, said the North Delta administration made the new hires official earlier this month and each have begun their transitions to the school. “We are very excited to have these new members of the North Delta family, and know they will help add to the great North Delta School experience for our students,” she said.

Hartley, a native of Charleston, graduated from Strider Academy in 2004 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Communicative Disorders from Ole Miss in 2008. She received a Master of Education in Counselor Education in 2011.

Hartley worked in the mental health counseling field for one year before spending the last seven years in public schools. Hartley and her husband Nathan live in Tillatoba and have three children. He is an accountant at Hartley Tax Group in Charleston.

Hentz comes to North Delta after retiring from Batesville Junior High where she was the 7th grade Information and Communication Technology/Cyber Foundation instructor, and the Technology Student Association advisor.

Hentz has 25 years of teaching experience, with 19 of those being in technology. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1993 from Delta State University with a major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry.

Hentz and her husband Billy Fred Hentz have two sons.

Kelly is the former head baseball and softball coach at Tunica Academy and coached at Delta Academy also. He is the founder of the Mid-South Expos, a showcase baseball team. His summer baseball program has helped more than 40 players earn spots on college teams.

Kelly has a Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State University (1994). He is a scout and talent evaluator for the National Scouting Report. His Tunica Academy team won a state championship and finished runner-up another year.

He has been named conference coach of the year five times, all-star coach three times, and once as state coach of the year.

Kelly and his wife Julia Lamb Kelly have two children.