Last Updated on November 6, 2012 9:29 am
Melissa J. Costin, currently principal of Colletsville School in Caldwell County, will be the new principal of Parkway School effective December 1st. The Board of Education approved the recommendation to hire Costin as principal at its meeting Monday evening.
Costin brings a broad range of educational experience and a distinguished record of achievement to her new role. She is in her third year as principal at Colletsville and previously served for three years as an assistant principal at South Caldwell High School, where she was recognized as the Caldwell County Schools Assistant Principal of the Year in 2008. She has also been an assistant principal/intern in Brunswick County and New Hanover County in connection with her completion of the NC Principal Fellowship Program, and she taught high school English for five years before moving to school leadership.
Colletsville School serves 377 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is recognized as an Honor School of Excellence and a high growth school under the NC ABC’s school accountability model, the highest possible ratings under this model. It won this status throughout Costin’s tenure as principal, an achievement made more impressive by the fact that Colletsville is a Title I school, meaning that a majority of students come from lower income households. The school has been nominated for a national award in each year of her leadership as principal and was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2011.
Costin completed her bachelor’s degree in English education at Appalachian State University and finished a master’s degree in school administration at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She has also completed the Distinguished Leadership in Practice program of the NC Department of Public Instruction.
Costin is succeeding Tamara Stamey as principal at Parkway. Stamey has been named the director of elementary education for the Watauga County Schools and officially transitioned to her new role on Monday.
Parkway School has an enrollment of 523 students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It is rated a NC School of Distinction on the state’s ABC’s school accountability model and has the highest proportion of Nationally Board Certified teachers of any school in the Watauga County Schools, a system that ranked third out of 115 school districts statewide last year in the proportion of personnel with National Board Certification.
