Thomas named new middle school principal in Gravette

Thomas
Thomas

— Duane Thomas, who last year served as assistant principal at Gravette High School, has been named new principal for GravetteMiddle School. The action came at a special meeting of the Gravette SchoolBoard last Monday evening.

Thomas was also head girls’ high school basketball coach when he tookthe Lady Lions to their first trip to state in more than 10 years.

“Mr. Thomas comes to the middle school principal position with a wealth of knowledge of the legal, financial, personnel, as well as the curriculum and instructional aspects of creating, building and leading an effective school for young people,” said Andrea Kelly, superintendent of Gravette Schools.

A native of Fairland, Okla., Thomas completed a career as a public school administrator at several schools in Oklahoma and was superintendent/high school principal at CrestUnified School District at Colony, Kans., before coming to Gravette in 2009.

His administrative career also includes positions at Wyandotte, Commerce and Bluejacket, Okla. He was a leader in the North Central Accreditation approval for the Bluejacket system. He has also served as basketball coach in Fairland, Afton and Miami High Schools.

The board interviewed three applicants for the position vacated by Mitchell Wilber, who served as Gravette Middle/Junior High School principal for many years.Wilber recently accepted a position as federal programs coordinator and instructional facilitator at Decatur.

The new principal received his education at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, a bachelor’s degree at Missouri Southern State University and his master’s degree at Northeastern State University. He received his superintendent certification in 1993.

He and his wife Dee are parents of three grown daughters. They make their home in Bentonville where Dee is a technology specialist in the Bentonville School system.

School News, Pages 8 on 07/20/2011