Key changes in leadership at two down-Island elementary schools will take effect for the coming academic year. Richard Smith, principal at the Tisbury School, will take the helm as principal at the Oak Bluffs School, and the Tisbury assistant principal John Custer will move up to become principal at that school.

Oak Bluffs principal Carlin Hart, who has been on the job for a year, will return to his former position as assistant principal in Oak Bluffs.

“I determined that some leadership changes were needed to give our schools the best possible start for the 2011-2012 school year,” said Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss in a press release issued Monday.

Mr. Weiss also said Donna Lowell-Bettencourt has been appointed assistant principal at the West Tisbury School. Mrs. Lowell-Bettencourt served as interim principal at West Tisbury during principal Michael Halt’s military deployment.

“For school administrators, the work never stops,” Mr. Weiss said in the release.

A complete story about the changes will appear in the Tuesday Gazette.