The new director of The Pruden Center of Industry and Technology says he’s excited by the opportunity to help give young people a head start in the workforce.

Andre Skinner, formerly principal at Elephant’s Fork Elementary School, was named to the position late last month. He replaces Corey McCray, who has been named vice president for workforce solutions at Tidewater Community College.

Skinner has served at The Pruden Center previously, as a special needs liaison from 2001 to 2006.

He was an assistant principal with Hampton City Public Schools following that role, before moving to Elephant’s Fork in 2012.

Skinner was also a special education teacher at Lakeland High School — where his public education career started — from 1999 to 2001.

“I applied after I actually saw the opportunity to come back to Pruden,” Skinner said. “You don’t normally see those types of opportunities. It’s a unique opportunity to be at a regional center.”

Based on its performance against objectives and related accountability requirements that came with Virginia’s waiver from the federal government’s No Child Left Behind policy, Elephant’s Fork Elementary is experiencing state intervention after being named a “focus” school.

When results from this past year academic year are announced, the school should find itself in a much better position than it was when he became principal there in 2012, Skinner said.

“I will be surprised if we don’t make some major progression from this past school year,” he said.

Being in a focus school creates an environment in which teachers and administrators are more focused on improving test scores, according to Skinner, adding that this expedited the learning curve for him in his first posting as a principal.

But Skinner said all schools are always under pressure. “In any school, there’s pressure to maintain or pressure to increase success with students,” he said.

At The Pruden Center, Skinner said, “I think that community involvement piece is probably going to be the biggest part of my job.”

“That’s getting Suffolk and the Tidewater area more familiar with what The Pruden Center has to offer and what our kids have to offer,” he said.

Skinner said he’s looking to continue to encourage enrollment — “That’s not to say it’s low,” he said — and improve some of the center’s programs.

The center is focusing on science, technology, engineering and math a lot more, he said.

Skinner also said he’s looking forward to working with both school divisions involved with the center — Suffolk and Isle of Wight — as well as the Advisory Council for Career and Technical Education.

Candidates for Elephant’s Fork’s new principal are currently being screened and scheduled for interviews, according to Bethanne Bradshaw, spokeswoman for Suffolk Public Schools.