By Miles Layton

GATESVILLE — Early Friday morning, I met with Dr. Chante Jordan, the newly sworn-in interim Superintendent for Gates County Schools. 

A graduate of Gates County High School, Class of 2000, Jordan comes full circle from student to superintendent. She brought a smile and was wearing her college alma mater’s sweatshirt – East Carolina University. We talked about district, faith, family and Gates County. I think the district is in good hands.  

Jordan was sworn in Thursday night as interim superintendent of Gates County Schools, taking the oath from Board Chairman Leslie Byrum in a ceremony that, for her, felt less like the start of a new job and more like a homecoming.

The appointment followed the resignation of former Superintendent Dr. Barry Williams, with the board expressing confidence Jordan would provide stable, student-centered leadership through the transition at the swearing-in ceremony. But for the 44-year-old Gates County native, the moment carried weight that went well beyond a title change.

“Definitely a sense of pride to be able to come back home and lead the district that molded and shaped me into who I am today,” Jordan said. “I’m definitely nervous, appreciative for the opportunity. And it’s just a very humbling experience.”

Hard to quantify or describe, but it feels like Gates School District has turned a page to open a new chapter.

Photos come from Gates County Schools.

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A Hometown Kid Who Never Really Left

Jordan graduated from Gates County High School in 2000. She spent her high school years in the band — flute her freshman year, then bass drum for the rest — and marched with a group she remembers as one of the best around.

“We were a very good band, very good drum major, so we won a lot of competitions,” she said.

She was also a student trainer for the football team all four years, which meant she rarely missed a Friday night.

“All of them,” she said of the games she attended. “I did that all four years.”

Those years left a mark that has never really faded. “Absolutely — very fond memories,” Jordan said. “Still very close to a lot of my high school classmates that graduated in the Class of 2000.”

After graduation, Jordan went to East Carolina University. She began teaching in 2003 in Greene County, working in special education at Greene County Middle School for a year before returning to Gates County in 2004 — and she has remained rooted in the district, with one stint elsewhere, ever since.

“I started in Greene County Schools. I taught one year in Greene County Schools in the special education department at Greene County Middle School,” Jordan said. “And then I came back to Gates, and I’ve been between Gates and” the neighboring district “all of my career.”

That return in 2004 began a career that wound through nearly every corner of the district: a special education teacher at Central Middle School for four years, director of the Exceptional Children’s program, a brief stretch as interim principal at Central Middle School, a period overseeing student services, and — in the years just before her interim appointment — director of human resources, a role in which she also continued handling Exceptional Children’s duties when the district went without a dedicated director.

Jordan had most recently served as the district’s Director of Human Resources, and earned a doctorate in educational leadership from East Carolina University in 2025.

She also spent time outside Gates County government proper: Jordan was the first African American female principal at Perquimans High School, where she served, working two years as assistant principal before five years as principal — 008-2015.

Asked whether she is the first Black woman to lead the district, Jordan was quick to correct the record and give credit elsewhere.

“Doctor Zenobia Smallwood was the first Black female superintendent,” she said. Jordan is the second Black superintendent to hold the post.

Why Special Education

If there’s a thread running through Jordan’s career, it’s special education — a field she says found her early and never let go.

“I’ve always enjoyed working with children,” Jordan said. “My mom owned a daycare my whole childhood, so that was always my summer jobs and evening jobs — always in childcare. So I think my passion for working with children came there.”

The pull toward special education specifically came later, during two summers she spent volunteering as a candy striper at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, just before she left for college.

“From those two years, my senior year — I decided, you know what, maybe special education is my calling,” she said. “I knew I wanted to go into education, but after that last summer I said, ‘I want to go into special ed and be an advocate for those who can’t advocate for themselves.’”

Decades later, that hasn’t changed. “Special ed is definitely my first love,” Jordan said. “I have a passion for working with students with disabilities.”

Family and Faith On and Off the Clock

Jordan and her husband have four children, all of whom attend or will be attending Gates County Schools. Her oldest, Bryson, is heading into ninth grade at the high school. Antoine will be in eighth grade and Tyler in seventh, both at Central Middle School. Her youngest, three-year-old Dalanie, attends Totally Kids Learning Center in Gatesville.

Sports fill up whatever time is left. “Like everybody else, I’m in the wind all the time,” Jordan said. “My boys play football, my oldest two play football, and my youngest is trying out for soccer this year. But they’ve always been involved in sports since they were five years old.”

Jordan speaks plainly about the role faith has played in getting her to this point.

“I grew up in the church. I mean, the church has been instilled in me,” she said. “But in my adult life, I’ve really relied on my faith, and I feel like where I am today is a lot about what plans God has for me.”

That faith, and her family, filled the room Thursday night. Her church was heavily represented in the audience, alongside her family, her husband’s family and colleagues from the central office.

But as she stood to take the oath, Jordan’s mind went first to someone who wasn’t there: her mother, Sherry Brickhouse of Sunbury, who passed away in December 2024.

“A lot of emotion, just thinking about my mom and the impact that she had on me being there last night,” Jordan said. “Just from childhood up, I just remember her always being there and always saying, ‘Listen, whatever your desire is to do, you can do it and you will do it.’”

She described a swell of pride looking out at everyone gathered for her. “Just very excited,” she said. “A sense of pride and gratitude to see those there that have been there along the way to support me on this major journey.”

What Comes Next

Jordan will oversee roughly 260 employees and about 13,000 students, with a budget of around $2.9 million, in a role she’ll hold for at least the next four months. She was careful to note that much of what’s ahead — including long-term staffing and building decisions — is still being worked out.

Her priorities for the immediate future are simple, she said. “Always, first and foremost, students are at the center of everything that I plan to do,” Jordan said. “Just continue to keep our students first, bringing back a sense of home and community for our teachers and our staff. And then I really want to build collaboration and relationships with the community. I want to get the communities back into the schools, back involved, and build this sense of we are Gates County.”

Much of that plan starts with churches, she said, an idea she’s already begun to sketch out.

“If I start with the local churches and having conversations with our local churches and pastors, and bridging those partnerships with our churches and our principals — maybe we can come up with a plan where we have churches to kind of adopt our schools,” Jordan said. “I think we have plenty of people in Gates County who want to be a part and want to support Gates County Schools, and would be more than willing, but don’t know how or where to begin the process. So that’s my thing, is just to get information out there, make connections, see who’s available, and just kind of go from there.”

Jordan also serves as president of the Gates County Community Partnership, a nonprofit she has helped grow into one of the county’s leading advocates for educational opportunity and youth development. Under her leadership, the release states, the organization has expanded its work in college readiness, STEM education, mentoring, mental health initiatives, scholarships and community engagement.

Asked what she sees as the district’s greatest strength, Jordan didn’t point to programs or test scores.

“Our people are — take pride in being Gates County family,” she said. “Just like any family, you know, you have trouble, you have difficulties, and you have things that happen, but family takes care of family, and I think that’s a strength of Gates County. Schools is that we come together. We support one another, and we have the same vision in mind, and that’s our students each and every day.”

With students set to return Aug. 24 and staff already back on the job as of Aug. 10, Jordan said the district — still finishing consolidation work tied to the closure of Buckland Elementary School — is in the final stretch of getting ready.

“There is still a lot to do, but we’re ready,” Jordan said. “We’re ready to open our doors to bring our students back in. Teachers are excited. Classrooms and the moves with consolidation have gone successfully. Teachers have been able to get in, get their rooms set up, and everybody is in place. So I am excited to start this new school year.”

For a woman who once marched the sidelines at Gates County football games and trained alongside the team as a teenager, the four months ahead carry a familiar kind of anticipation.

“Definitely excited,” Jordan said of the road ahead. “Brings a lot of emotion — a lot of, you know, just a lot of emotion of being in this place, being in this moment.”