Mr. Claude E. Willie III

Mr. Claude E. WilliePrincipal cwillie@wcpss.net

Claude E. WilliePrincipalcwillie@wcpss.net

Principal - Claude Willie4600 W Lake Rd.Apex, NC 27539-7657919-662-2900

Principal: Claude Willie919-662-2900.Grades 6-8.Student Enrollment: 1,400.Staff: 122.

Pastor Claude E. Willie, III

919-8326270

Greater Walls Chapel

104 Hillview Circle

Rockingham, NC 28379

West Lake Middle School Principal, Claude Willie

In other school news, West Lake Middle School Principal Claude Willie is retiring.

Willie, who has been principal of WLMS for the past five years, said he is looking forward to having some time for fun and visiting his farm.His career included stints at Apex Elementary, Apex High School, and Holly Springs Elementary.His first teaching assignment was at West Cary Middle School.

The 51-year-old, who has spent 31 years in education said, "My philosophy as a principal has always been to have high expectations for students.If you set the bar high students will jump up and surprise you."

Willie, who is the pastor of Rush Metropolitan AME Zion Church in Raleigh, takes pride in the fact that West Lake's test scores are so high.He said education has always been his passion and mission; it was not just a job to him.

As for his retirement, Willie said, "After all these years it's time for someone else to take over.I have mixed emotions, but I have many youthful years left to explore other things."

Those things include volunteering one day a week at Southeast Raleigh High School and a possible candidacy for the Wake County Board of Education.

As of July 1, Willie will be replaced by Dr. Gregory S. Decker of Lead Mine Elementary in Raleigh.
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"Dr. Decker will take West Lake Middle School to another level," said Willie.

Finalists for Principal of the Year include Terri Cobb of Lockhart Elementary, Kevin Hill of Wildwood Forest Elementary, Marge Ronco of Ballentine Elementary, Andre Smith of Wake Forest-Rolesville High, and Claude Willie of West Lake Middle.
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Willie has been at West Lake Middle since 1999.Prior to that he served as principal of Holly Springs, Apex and Olds elementary schools, as well as two other North Carolina elementary schools, and as a teacher at elementary and middle schools in Wake County.He also serves as pastor of the Raleigh Metropolitan AME Zion Church where he has been honored as the district's Outstanding Minister of the Year.Willie takes a team approach to leadership."Everyone on the educational team has strengths.Therefore, we rely on the strong points of each team member to enhance the total organization.Identifying positive points of each individual gives them a sense of worth and will motivate them to work harder," Willie said.The school has boosted academic achievement by holding regular parent conferences, offering mid-day, after-school, and Saturday additional instruction, offering one-on-one mentoring for at-risk students, and providing enrichment programs for English as a Second Language students."Our student body has reached the Wake County Goal 2003 which states that 95 percent of our students will score a Level III or above on the North Carolina End of Grade tests in math and reading," Willie said.

But no decisions have been made as of yet, said Claude E. Willie III, principal of WLMS in a voicemail on Thursday, June 26.

"We're not interested in right now in doing anything else on the piece about school uniforms," said Willie in the voicemail.