By James Day
Wade Lockett will be the principal at Silverton High School this fall.
Lockett, 41, has served as the school’s assistant principal/athletic director during the 2016-17 school year. He replaces Justin Lieuallen, who served one year in the position.
“Mr. Lockett lets his students and colleagues know that they are his highest priority,” said Silver Falls School District Superintendent Andy Bellando. “He has strong skills in building and monitoring relations, he understands the importance of school tradition, and he creates a school culture that is welcoming and supportive of all students.”
Lockett, who briefly attended Silverton during his high school years, came to the district after 12 years as a teacher, coach, athletic director and administrator at Sandy High.
“This past year serving as assistant principal for Silverton High School has helped me get to know our students, staff, families and community,” Lockett said. “I’m looking forward to strengthening our team partnerships, building on student success and enhancing the culture at our school.”
Lockett will be the third principal at the high school in three years, and Bellando has assigned Assistant Superintendent Dandy Stevens to mentor and support Lockett during the transition.
“All our new principals are provided a mentor and additional support,” he said. “Using the temporary assignment of a part-time district administrator as a mentor is less common. In this case, the selection teams and I felt that more direct support for Mr. Lockett is an important addition.”
“I thought I would need some support,” Lockett said, “and this is a great plan, quite honestly. You need all the help you can get. There are things I can do, things (Assistant Principal) Jodi Drescher can do, (Assistant Principal) Therese Gerlits can do and Dandy can do. If you put all these things together you can create something special.”
Lockett, who has been busy this spring filling coaching vacancies now must look to replace himself as athletic director.
Lieuallen, meanwhile, said that he “greatly appreciated my time and experiences at Silverton High School.” He said that he “will sadly miss the staff, students and families… and looks forward to supporting the school as we transition to new leadership.” Lieuallen said that he is pursuing opportunities that he is not in a position to announce.
Bellando said that Lieuallen, who came to the district from McNary High in Keizer, “helped us move forward in teaching and learning practices, technology access, CTE efforts (and) data analysis. He developed positive relationships with our standings and made an important impact on their individual growth.”
