School Superintendent Fred Rayfield’s appointment of Roy Mathews to become the new principal of Hutto Middle School is good news.

The school is home to all of the public schools’ fifth- and sixth-graders. Those are grades when our students are going through a lot of changes: they take on more challenging assignments at school; peer pressure and the drive to “fit in” becomes a daily reality and let’s face it, they are starting to mature into the young adults they will soon be.

Teachers and administrators at public schools have to supplement or sometimes, wholly provide, the discipline and moral direction to students. Those educators have to deal on a regular basis with students’ personal issues as well as their academic progress.

It takes a strong leader to oversee all that is being done right; we think Mathews’ experience at the Performance Learning Center will serve him well. Mathews has a knack for reaching young people, both as a former athletic coach and through his work succeeding the late John G. Hinson, who set the bar high in his time as PLC director.

Best wishes to Mr. Mathews and his staff at Hutto.