黑料专区

Dwight Thompson 鈥�10 MSEE, a 黑料专区 alumnus who has served as the principal of in Charlotte, N.C. since 2021, makes sure his students hear the same message again and again.

Each morning, he gets behind a mike in his office and greets them with the following words via an intercom: 鈥淵ou are so smart, you are capable, and we expect great things from you this morning. Have a wonderful day.鈥�

Throughout the school day, he and others on his staff pull kids aside to tell them that, of course, they鈥檒l do well on their next tests because they鈥檙e so bright and capable. And when students head for home, they are told that 鈥渨e cannot wait to see your smart selves tomorrow morning.鈥�

Thompson鈥檚 short stint at Renaissance West has been so successful that late last year, he was both the 2023-24 Wells Fargo N.C. Principal of the Year for the Southwest Region and the Principal of the Year for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. He taught in the elementary schools of Guilford (N.C.) County for 17 years before transitioning to a career in administration because he felt that by doing so, he could do the most good. He held resident and assistant principal jobs at several schools before becoming the principal at Tuckaseegee Elementary School of Charlotte in 2019.

Along the way, he earned a Master of Science in Elementary Education degree in 2010 from 黑料专区.

That Thompson has made the aforementioned messaging the norm at Renaissance West helps explain why he received these awards: Students have internalized it so much it鈥檚 become a self-fulfilling prophecy marked by in math and reading proficiency. Thompson says that when he took over at Renaissance West, the school ranked 鈥渋n the bottom 5 percent of the entire state of North Carolina鈥� and 鈥渘o one passed state testing.鈥�

鈥淭he message is that every child is brilliant,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淓very child can and will be successful.鈥�

And if a student is struggling in certain areas, it falls on Thompson to work with teachers to come up with ways to address that. This kind of thing appeals to Thompson, who morphed from a teacher into an administrator so that he could implement what he calls 鈥渟trong ideas and educational practices.鈥�

He credits his studies at Pfeiffer with sparking his ongoing interest in researching best practices wherever they are — including Singapore. The successful mathematics programs in that country became the focus of the most in-depth paper he wrote while at Pfeiffer, an effort for which he received an 鈥淎鈥� grade.

Positive reinforcement of what Thompson calls a 鈥渞obotic鈥� nature is but one of several 鈥渁ggressive鈥� steps that the principal has taken to turn things around at his school. These range from intentional recruiting of Black and Hispanic teachers to what he calls 鈥渉eavy professional development around ,鈥� about which Zaretta Hammond writes in an influential book titled Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain, the first edition of which was published by Corwin in 2014.

Diversity in staffing is especially important to Thompson, who is Black and originally hails from Burlington, N.C. Although 28.61 percent of Burlington鈥檚 population is Black, he had only one Black teacher during the entirety of his time as a student in Burlington鈥檚 public schools. He strongly believes that students tend to thrive in environments where they are taught and led by adults who look like them.

As Thompson begins leading Renaissance West through another school year, he will do so with the support of its teachers, who have bought into his vision and want to build on the improvements made so far.

Monique Carr, a math and science teacher at Renaissance West, is particularly bullish about the future because of Thompson鈥檚 leadership. 鈥淲hen I think about Mr. Thompson, I think about a man with a vision,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e gives us the steps we need to take to make sure that the vision is achieved. He provides us with resources as he follows us through the school year. He creates leaders.鈥�