Wallace to lead Havelock Middle

Tabari Wallace looks at middle school as an important time in the development of a child.

"Middle school is a crossroads," said Wallace, the new principal at Havelock Middle School. "You can hold on to them and get them ready to be a success, but if you lose that child, it's tough to get them back. If you don't show you care, you'll lose them."

That's why Wallace already has a plan in mind to challenge his students to stay in school until high school graduation.

"I want to make sure that no one drops out," he said. "I'm going to tell all my eighth-graders that everyone graduates. I'm going to make a master list, and I'm going to tell them to send me their graduation invitation, and I am going to check them off the list, and I am going to keep every one of them."

To do that, Wallace said as the top administrator at the school that he needed to make sure the students and teachers had all the appropriate resources for success.

"I take all the responsibility," he said. "If we're not successful, I'm going to ask what I could have done better. I'm going to ask what training I needed to get the teachers and what resources I needed to provide.

"You'll never hear me blame a teacher or a student if we don't reach our goal."

Wallace is a 1993 graduate of New Bern High School. He went to East Carolina University, where he played football for the Pirates and earned his degree in 1997. He has obtained three master's degrees as well.

He was an assistant principal at Tucker Creek Middle School and has worked at several other schools in Craven County as well. This is his first job as a principal.

Wallace replaces Tom McCarthy, who resigned last month.

"This is a good county," Wallace said. "We have good kids. We have phenomenal parents who want to be involved."

He said when the goals of parents and teachers come together, students can't fail.

"They can't help but succeed," he said.

Wallace said he wanted to instill pride in the students and celebrate their successes. He plans to hold "pride parties" each nine-week grading period for those making the honor roll or principal's list.

He said work has already started outside the school to improve the grounds, and he wants to improve the appearance of the building inside as well.

"Landscaping, new paint - I want the children to see we're heading in a new direction," Wallace said.

Part of that direction involves more reading, Wallace said. He said students arriving early to school would be sent to classrooms for quiet time where they can read and study, rather than gathering in the gymnasium for social time.

Wallace said he also wanted to work on students' character.

"We want to build on what they are getting from their parents," he said.

According to statistics from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, 86.2 percent of the school's students tested at or above grade level - slightly below the 87.7 average for middle schools in the county - in 2006-07. Statistics for last school year were unavailable.

"We're going to get the job done here," Wallace said of improving test scores.

"I think success is measured in the lost lamb. You can have all the success, but you worry about the three or four that get lost along the way. I think that way. It's the true template of no child left behind.

"And, I will give them everything I can, give the teachers everything I can, to keep from losing one."