For 11 years our school was led by Principal Patti Hamler who retired July 31. New principal Melissa Thomas is no stranger to WCPSS and northern Wake County. 

Thomas has lived in North Carolina for some time, but she first taught in Arkansas. 

“I taught there for eight and a half years,” Thomas said. “It was a CTE highschool, so it was focused on Career Technical Ed, and loved it, but then we moved to North Carolina, where I taught at Wakefield high school.” 

She taught Business and Marketing along with  being the cheerleading coach. Later she taught at Wakefield middle. 

Thomas began her career as an administrator at Sanderson as an assistant principal, then back to Wakefield  as an assistant principal. Her first principal opportunity came at Louisburg Magnet High School, where she served until coming to WF High.

Now at her sixth school, Thomas has learned from how all of her former schools compare to each other.

“I have a lot of perspectives of seeing different schools because every school’s different, and everybody handles things a little bit differently, so it’s nice to pick up ideas from different areas,” Thomas said. 

With all her experience, Thomas has learned how to lead her staff members and teachers. 

“I would say a previous colleague would say that I’m very trusting, and that when I ask staff to do stuff, I just assume they’re going to do the right thing, and I don’t micromanage, and I treat them like they’re professionals and ask them to do. And that’s kind of the way I feel to prove me differently, but she would also, they would also say, I was very supportive,” Thomas said. “I encourage people to try new things, and we’ll support them when they do.”

Taking risks and getting out of one’s comfort zone is something that is very important to Thomas. 

“I like to try new things, and I know sometimes they don’t work out, but I think you can’t grow if you’re not willing to try new things, and I think the fact that I really like kids, and I really like seeing you guys grow. I think that’s probably the most important thing,” Thomas said. “I think if I didn’t like y’all this would not be a fun job.”

When Thomas arrived, she quickly got a feel for the school’s community and heritage. 

“You talk to people here, and ‘my kids went here, and my parents went here, I went here’ that kind of thing. I think that puts a lot of emphasis on support of the school, and it makes people want this school to succeed, and so I like that,” Thomas said.

However, some things were in need of a change. This included security. 

“So, y’all already know I want doors locked,” Thomas said. “For me, us being as secure as possible is my number one goal. I can’t check every door every day. I can’t stop someone from trying to do something, but I can slow them down.”

It’s hard to blame Thomas for caring about security. In this year alone there have been 30 school shootings nationwide that resulted in injuries or death on a K-12 campus. This doesn’t even include the shooting at UNC Chapel Hill  Aug. 28 that resulted in the death of a professor. 

“I take protecting us and keeping us as secure as possible very seriously, because I’d never want to, you know, you never know what’s or something’s going to happen, and I just don’t want it to be us, and if it ever did, and I hope it never does, I don’t want to say ‘oh but if we had just done this’ or ‘if we had just done that,’” Thomas said. “I’d rather be proactive and even though it’s not convenient, I get locking the doors is not convenient, cause sometimes I forget my keys, but I think being proactive as much as possible is super important, because to me, I feel responsible for all of you and for everyone around here.”

Though she has gained wisdom and knowledge from her experience, Thomas understands that there are always areas to grow.

“I want to be the kind of principal who does the right thing for students and for staff. I’m willing to admit when I make mistakes, and I always want to be able to do that, although sometimes that’s hard, but I want to do what’s right. I want to do what’s best for you all, and I want to do what’s best for our students or for our staff, for both,” Thomas said. “I want to be the kind of principal that y’all can come to, and so I try to keep my door open. People can come see me, unless there’s like something going on that I have to shut it. I keep the door open. Sometimes I’m eating lunch when you come in, but that’s okay. I want to be accessible to staff and students.”

Through all her experiences, Thomas has gained wisdom when it comes to communication with students. 

“It has taught me that, to always ask more questions, because you never know; there’s always a backstory, and you never know when someone comes to you what else is involved and to never assume,” Thomas said. “I always feel like there’s more to it, and if you ask questions or allow the person to talk about it, you’ll find out what the rest of that story is, and it’s a lot easier to help somebody if you actually have a better understanding of where they’re coming from.” 

Thomas understands that we are only in high school now, but she still needs to prepare us for the future. 

“I just want to make sure that we continue to prepare y’all to do whatever it is you want to do and prepare you to know that there’s jobs out there that we don’t even know exist yet, but you’re going to be in them, and you’ll be able to learn new things,” Thomas said. “So not that I think we need to add anything yet; I just want to continue to grow and to become. I want us to be the best school in the district.”