Gwen Reiber, the headmaster of Porters Chapel Academy for six years, will not renew her contract at the end of the academic year.

&#8220I’ve been there for six years and we’ve worked hard together to do things at Porters Chapel and we’ve accomplished those things,” she said. &#8220I believe it’s time for them to have an opportunity to have a change as well.”

Reiber, 49, told the private school’s board of directors last week that she would not return in the fall.

Although she doesn’t have a specific plan, the Ellisville native said she would like to obtain more varied administrative experience or possibly work in the college setting. A stint at administrative work in the public school system may be in her future as well, she said.

Leaving Porters Chapel won’t be easy, she said.

&#8220I have a lot of friends there and they’re kind of a part of me,” she said. &#8220This hasn’t been like a job for me. It’s like going every day to spend time with the people I care about.”

Mark Buys, a member of the board of directors and past president of the board of Porters Chapel Academy, said Reiber’s spirit will be missed.

&#8220We hate to see her go,” he said. &#8220She has been an asset to the school. She got it going in the right direction.”

The school’s board will form a search committee and begin taking applications, Buys said. The school has qualified people who can step up on an interim basis but the board hopes to fill the position as soon as it can, without rushing, he said.

&#8220Hopefully by midsummer we’ll be able to name a replacement,” Buys said.

Reiber was hired March 2000 to head the 230-student private school for 4-year-old kindergarteners through 12th-graders on Porters Chapel Road.

A PCA high-school math and physics teacher who was hired at the same time, Frances Warren, said before Reiber’s arrival she would not have sent her own children to the school.

&#8220I have my own children out here now,” Warren said. &#8220I feel like they have had a good education, a good background” in preparation for college.

Reiber had worked previously as headmaster at Providence Christian School in Savannah, Ga., where her husband pastored the Presbyterian church that established the school.

Reiber, who moved to Vicksburg with her family in 1999, will stay in Vicksburg, where her husband, Scott Reiber, is minister of Westminster Presbyterian Church.

PCA senior Kenny Simms, who plans to play football next year at Mississippi College, said Reiber’s rounding-out of the school’s offerings with the creation of fine-arts programs such as drama is one of her achievements that has benefited him especially.

&#8220I used to be scared of speaking in front of people,” Simms said, adding that the school’s drama program has helped him overcome that fear.

&#8220She’s brought out not only the best in each student but in each person,” he said.

Strengthening academics at the kindergarten through 12th grade private school was on Reiber’s agenda when she came in as headmaster.

She received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Southern Mississippi, a master’s in math education from the University of Mississippi, a specialist’s degree in educational administration in 1998 and, most recently, a doctorate in educational administration, both from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga.

Warren also commented on the expansion of the school’s math program under Reiber. The school has added a pre-calculus course and has begun offering algebra as early as the eighth grade.

Reiber also led the school in getting accredited, achieving status as an Accredited Member of the Mississippi Private School Association Accredited Member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 2005.

She also was beneficial in bringing athletics to the fore at PCA as well as fine arts. Under her leadership, a marching band was started and choral groups and expanded art courses were introduced.

Reiber wore more than one hat at the school. She has taught math courses and acted as the school’s choir director.

She has also been on the other side as a parent of a PCA student. Her daughter will graduate from the school in May and enroll at the University of Southern Mississippi on a leadership scholarship. Reiber said her daughter’s education has been the most significant evidence of PCA’s solid foundation.

&#8220My daughter is going to graduate with an excellent education in a Christian setting,” she said. &#8220All of that is a tribute to what she got at Porters Chapel Academy.”

PCA’s predecessor school was formed in 1965. The school’s first graduating class graduated from high school in 1973. Its name was changed to Porters Chapel in the 1976-77 school year.