Summer is happily in full swing for students, teachers and staff. 

For new Thomasville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Laine Reichert, however, it is no time to rest. 

For her first two days on the job, Reichert embarked on a two-day session with school system leaders, a proactive step in helping lay out the future for the system’s most important pieces — its students.

Reichert actually has been with the city school system since late March, working closely with now-retired Superintendent Sabrina Boykins-Everett 

The transition from Boykins-Everett to Reichert has been easy, convivial and collaborative.

That isn’t always the case — for examples, look to the southeastern part of our state, as Chatham County and Liberty County school boards and systems are embroiled in turmoil with outgoing superintendents.

Meanwhile, Dr. Reichert appears to have an outgoing personality as superintendent, which may suit her goals and the system well.

She said, after her hiring was official, that one of her first tasks was to get out into the schools. She also has stated she wants to hold community town halls about the schools and she hopes to find out what parents want in a graduate of city schools.

The city school system’s College and Career Ready Performance Index scores trailed the state average by nearly 10 points for 2012 and 2013 but the gap has been closed for the two most recent CCRPI scores. The district outpaced the state average in 2014.

But the Thomasville City Schools’ enrollment has been shrinking over the last five years, according to CCRPI figures. Enrollment is down by 6.5 percent from nearly 3,200 in 2012.

Dr. Reichert appears to have the support of the board behind her and judging from the comments on social media — an inexact science to be sure but at the least a decent bellwether — her return to Thomasville is widely applauded. 

She also comes back to her roots having the experience of leading the Bacon County School System in Alma. For Georgia history buffs, Alma is the blueberry capital of the state and ALMA is also a mnemonic device to remember the state’s four capitals — Augusta, Louisville, Milledgeville and Atlanta.

Now Dr. Reichert is back home in the Rose City, and we hope her tenure as the city schools superintendent is a long and productive one. 

While we applaud Mrs. Boykins-Everett’s many years of faithful and steadfast service to students, parents, teachers and staff and wish her well in her retirement, we also are encouraged by the early steps Dr. Reichert has taken in her administration.