‘I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be’: The educators moving Warren County Schools this school year
As early as 7:17 a.m. on Aug. 24, parents were parked around the cul-de-sac of Northside Elementary School. While families were not allowed to enter the building for another 20 minutes, that did not stop them from setting up balloons, speakers, and “First Day of School” signs to meet the students before they headed into the cafeteria.
For incoming principal Michele Stallings, it was just as important to invite those families inside to meet their child’s teacher for the year.
“We wanted to make sure parents could come into the school and meet the teacher and see where the child’s classroom is,” Stallings said. “I actually want to call each family and talk to each parent — hopefully, within the first two weeks of school.”
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Northside has gone through several transitions over the past 15 years. In the 2014-15 academic year, the school expanded into a K-8 format. Then, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students were consolidated into Warren County Middle School starting with the 2022-23 academic year to give students more access to extracurriculars and overall serve them more effectively, The Warren Record reported.
Understanding she is one of several principals the school has had since the middle school consolidation is why Stallings said she wants to help create a sense of stability.
“They’ve undergone a lot of leadership changes over the years,” Stallings said. “All of the amazing things that already happen here, we actually just want to take it to the next level under my leadership.”
Inside Daniela Neuling’s first grade Spanish immersion classroom, students were already singing along with their teacher in Spanish to introduce themselves.
When asked about her goals for the year, Neuling talked about engaging the students’ wanderlust and teaching them to read.
“My goal really is to open their minds to maybe travel someday. Tickle their want for knowledge, and then what I really, really like is teaching kids how to read. That’s my jam,” Neuling said.
After nine years at the school, Neuling said that at Northside they work together as a family.
“I always say that the teachers and the staff really move the school, and I don’t think with a different group of people we would have been that successful with all these changes that we faced,” Neuling said.
Ma Sheila Saldo, the school’s third grade math teacher, agreed.
“We support each other with mentoring, sharing our best practices,” Saldo said. “Maybe your practices there in your classroom will be good in mine.”
Stallings said she believes Northside has some of the most resilient teachers she has ever met.
“Regardless of what’s been happening around them, they have remained steadfast in being here for the children and their families, and I’m grateful to now be a part of their family and help move Northside to the next level,” Stallings said.
‘We want you to be part of our family’
Warren County Schools (WCS) welcomed 30 new educators and support staff for the 2026-27 school year. Located in the northcentral part of the state, the district seeks to create an environment which retains newcomers and supports the educators who have chosen to make WCS their home for many years. Part of their strategic plan is reducing their teacher turnover rate to 8% by 2030.
Superintendent Dr. Carol Montague-Davis said the best recruitment strategy has been word of mouth.
“We just tell people, ‘We got a good system. We got a great place to work, and we want you to be part of our family,’” Montague-Davis said.
‘I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be’
WCS high schools started two weeks before the elementary schools. For Warren County High School Principal Dr. Lionel Kato, things are off to a great start.
Kato took leadership of the building in the 2025-26 academic year.
Upon taking up the mantle, Kato’s focus was on setting consistent expectations for students and staff. This year, he is challenging students and staff to go all in on academics.
“We hired some new staff members, implemented some new programming for our students, and so this year is like our big year to kind of resurge in some areas academically,” Kato said.
Part of the new programming for students this year includes a focus on durable skills like personal responsibility listed in the Portrait of a Graduate framework.
Every Warren County High student has a scheduled NEST period. Playing on the school’s eagle mascot, NEST stands for Nurturing Excellence and Success Together. The time is meant to help students with their organizational skills and overall character development.
New this year, every student was given a binder to assist them with their notetaking skills. The binders are checked every week during their NEST period. In the future, Kato said he hopes to bring in guest speakers to talk to the students about their careers.
“Everybody looks toward graduation, but we want you to have the skill set, soft and hard skills, to be able to get out and be successful in whatever you choose to do,” Kato said.
While the football team is off to a great start after beating their rivals the Vance County Vipers, Coach Victor Hunt is also making time to talk with the students about their future.
“How you approach the classroom is how you’re gonna approach sports. If you avoid the tough things in the classroom, you’re gonna avoid the tough things when it comes to sports,” Hunt said.
Kato’s leadership is already having an impact on the school. In the 2024 Teacher Working Conditions survey, 79.55% of teachers at Warren County High agreed that “Overall, my school is a good place to work and learn.” In 2026, that number was up to 96.77%.
Family and Consumer Science Teacher Bridget Perry said she has observed her colleagues trying to cultivate more active class environments throughout the building.
“All of us are trying to do more engagement in the classroom to get the students excited about academics and about their schoolwork,” Perry said. “When I walk around some of my peers’ classrooms… I see everybody buying into what the administration has charged us with for the year.”
When asked why she’s chosen to have a long-term career as an educator in WCS, Perry said it was where she was meant to be.
“A lot of times, people don’t think high school students want or need nurturing or to feel safe, and I’m a firm believer that they do. I’m a nurturer. It’s just me. I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be,” Perry said as she goes into her eighth year of teaching.
If that’s the case, English teacher Tampathia Evans has been nurturing the same families for decades. The beginning of this school year was like a reunion with students she taught over 20 years ago, she said, because she is now teaching their children.
“I think that that has helped a lot, having those connections within the community,” Evans said.
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Growing every day
On the first day of school for students at Warren Early College High School (WECHS), educators and community members formed a tunnel in front of the entrance to welcome students. Principal Shena Judkins said that she will be at the front door greeting students every day.
“You’re welcome here. We want you to be successful here,” Judkins said. “That’s a culture that we’ve set.”
Teachers at WECHS said educators make an active, authentic effort to grow every day.
Science teacher Julie Eaton said she has worked at other schools where teachers are ready to leave promptly once the school day is over, but the educators at WECHS don’t do that.
“It’s very professional, and I think that everyone here challenges each other. We share information constantly. People talk about the planned learning communities (PLCs), and I feel like that’s just what we do all day, every single day,” Eaton said.
Educators also said Judkins trusts them to meet the students where they are while staying on track.
“She (Judkins) knows the environment, and so we’re trusted to make those decisions. Like, do we need to go back and reteach something? Do we need to incorporate information that wasn’t in the lesson plan, so that our students have the foundational knowledge to be able to learn what is there?,” English teacher Lisa Bender said.
Through modeling the ability to adapt and collaborate with each other, educators said they hope WECHS students are set for the future.
“Honestly, as students, they’re taking everything we’re teaching them, and they’re being very smart and being strategic and intentional about the choices that they’re making with their life,” Judkins said.