WHS principal

will be leaving post
By Caroline Monday
cmonday@mountaintimes.com

Watauga High School principal Angela Quick has announced that she will be leaving Watauga County Schools at the end of the school year.

Quick has accepted a position as deputy chief academic officer with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

Quick joined the school system as principal at WHS in 2005 and was named Watauga County Schools Principal of the Year for the 2007-08 school year.

Quick started her teaching career as one of the state’s first Teaching Fellows. She has worked in school systems throughout the Southeast as a biology teacher, high school principal and magnet programs director.

Of her time in the High Country, Quick said she is most proud of her work in helping plan for the new high school, developing curriculum updates and increasing enrollment in AP and Huskins courses.

“It’s going to be hard to leave such a dynamic faculty and dynamic student body,” she said, describing the move as “bittersweet.”

In her new position, Quick will be working with state associate superintendent Robert Logan in areas including K-12 curriculum, career-technical education, exceptional children, instructional technology and accountability services.

Though she said she will miss the area she has come to know as a home, Quick said she felt the need to be a good example for her students. Part of being an educator, Quick said, is inspiring students to reach for new heights.

She said she is looking forward to the tasks before her in the new position. “I’m excited about being able to learn about the entire state,” Quick said.

“I just hope I can contribute.”

“Angela has been a great asset to our school system,” Lowell Younce, chairman of the Watauga County School Board of Education, said. “We’re saddened, but we’re also glad for her.”

Quick’s innovative attitude fit in well with the school system’s commitment to not accept the status quo, Younce said.

“She’s always looking for new ideas and new ways to improve student performance,” he said.

Superintendent Bobbie Short said Quick will be able to continue her work for students. “She is going to a position that is going to influence curriculum statewide,” she said. “I can’t think of anyone more qualified.”

Short said the school system has benefited from Quick’s time here. “The high school has made great progress under her leadership,” Short said.

Younce said the board will begin the recruitment process for Quick’s replacement soon.

This process includes advertising the position for a set period of time and forming a selection committee. That committee makes recommendations to the superintendent, who then recommends a candidate to the board.

“We will make sure Watauga High School representatives are a big part of the interview process,” Short said.

She said she is positive the board will be able to find an excellent candidate to fill the spot. “Because this is such a quality district, many quality people will want to come,” Short said.

The board is currently in the process of recruiting a new superintendent and Younce said they should be making an announcement about the results of that search in the near future.