Crystal Brown will be the first principal for Mundy Mill Academy, which will open its doors as Gainesville City Schools’ newest elementary school for the 2017-18 year.

Brown will begin the new job in January, coming from her current role as principal at Benjamin Martin Elementary School in Fayetteville, N.C. She has been principal there since 2006.

She has a doctorate in educational administration from N.C. State, a Master of School Administration from Fayetteville State and bachelor’s degree in music from East Carolina, where she was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow.

Brown was named the 2013 Cumberland County Schools Principal of the Year.

“Opening a new school is an exciting, yet challenging, endeavor,” Brown said in a news release. “Rest assured that the students of Mundy Mill Academy will have a safe and orderly environment in which to learn, qualified and caring teachers, and will be provided opportunities to grow academically, emotionally and socially.”