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Claremont Elementary

Ensuring Equity & Excellence for All

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School Leadership

A Message from our Principal

Two smiling adults pose in front of a school logo featuring a bear. A teacher and children explore a water table in a classroom setting. A teacher and two students smile for a selfie in a colorful classroom.

Welcome to Claremont!  It has been an honor to serve you as your Principal for the past four years.  I am incredibly excited about all we have accomplished this past year in the Claremont Bear family, and I am looking forward to us all continuing to learn and grow alongside one another in this amazing school and community.  

Already, we have so much to be proud of, and I look forward to working with you all to sustain that greatness for years to come.  From our personalized learning focus, to the amazing ongoing growth of our student scholars. This community has come together for years to sustain a legacy of community and service, and the future will be no different.  

This year at Claremont, we have had a consistent vision, mission and core values that can be summed up in the following statements:   

We believe that every child can grow and succeed, regardless of their background.  

We believe that every child deserves to be healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged, and we will stop at nothing to ensure that every child does.  

  • We believe in the power of personalized learning for all children.
  • We believe in the power of a strong culture of trust, honesty, transparency, collaboration, consistency, and empowerment.  
  • We believe in the power of strong relationships with staff, students, families, and our community.
  • We believe in creating a culture rooted in growth, where it is okay to fail, so long as you fail forward.

Most of all, we believe in all of our students and staff to keep chasing excellence and greatness - every student, every parent, every teacher, every leader, every day.  With every story read, every song played, every meal served, and every problem solved this year, we have focused this year on being intelligent, inclusive, and infinite in every aspect of what we do.   In the words of Helen Keller, alone, we can do so little, but together, we can do so much.  

My goal as your principal has been to listen, to learn, and to design and carry out our vision for the coming years at Claremont Elementary School, not only as a school, but also as a community - together.  I am so proud of all of the growth we have made in all aspects of our learning and well-being this year, and it is my hope that we will continue to collaboratively develop and communicate our vision to sustain and grow Claremont’s excellence so clearly and consistently that anyone can see it being lived out in everything we say and do for our students.

 

Meet our Administrative Team

  • Meet James Frye, Principal
     

    A man with a shaved head smiles broadly, wearing a suit and tie.

    James Frye
    Principal, Claremont Elementary

    Email

    Joined Team CCS - July 2019
    Experience 
    Follow me on Twitter: @mrjamesfrye

    I am proud to have served as the Principal and Lead Learner of Claremont Elementary School (@claremont_elem on Twitter) since July 2019. Most recently, I served as Assistant Principal and STEM Coordinator for Newton-Conover STEM Middle School, and prior to that, I served at the district level as the Instructional Technology / Public Information Officer for Newton-Conover City Schools. I began my career as an English Teacher for Newton-Conover High School and have enjoyed teaching pre-service educators as an Adjunct Professor of Education for Lenoir-Rhyne University.  

    I am blessed to have had the opportunity to provide consulting services on strategic leadership and instructional planning for the digital age to school districts across North Carolina, the NC Department of Public Instruction, and The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. I currently serve as a member of the Board of Directors for the NC Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and am a member of The EdTech Genome Project, helping to develop a national vision and framework for teaching and learning with technology.

    Education 
    Ph.D. (ABD), Educational Leadership and Policy, The University of Kentucky
    Certificate, Executive Educational Leadership, The University of Kentucky
    M.A., Curriculum and Teaching, Michigan State University
    Graduate Certificate, Educational Technology, Michigan State University
    B.A., English Education, Lenoir-Rhyne University


    Why I Became an Educator
    As a first-generation college graduate, I am fortunate to have had some incredible educators who inspired me to find my greatness and rise up to my potential.  I firmly believe that all children deserve to have equitable access to high-quality personalized learning experiences.  I believe that our schools and the success of our students and teachers should not be defined by a ZIP code, and it is my mission to inspire all students and staff to see the potential in themselves to grow and excel beyond their wildest dreams.
     
    Favorite Place in Catawba County
    Claremont Elementary School, of course! Downtown Hickory and downtown Newton are also some of my favorite places in Catawba County.


    Favorite Activities
    I am a husband and father of three and enjoy spending time with my family. I enjoy reading to learn, and writing and recording music in my spare time.


    Anything Else You Want Us To Know?
    I spent years in Tae Kwon Do and nearly earned my Black Belt.  I also once performed in a singing competition in Atlanta at The Tabernacle.

    I joined CCS because it gave me the best opportunity to work with students, teachers, parents, and communities to carry out a shared vision and collective commitment to ensuring equity, excellence, and personalized learning for every child. 

  • Meet Katie Lunsford, Assistant Principal

    A smiling family of three poses on a staircase, all wearing red and black plaid.

    Katie Lunsford
    Assistant Principal, Claremont Elementary

    Email

    Joined Team CCS - August 2014

    Experience 
    I have always had a love of teaching from an early age playing school, babysitting every summer, and taking on an internship in High School to work with a classroom of hearing-impaired students. I received the NC Teaching Fellows scholarship in my senior year of High School and started my education career at Lenoir-Rhyne University. I began student teaching in first grade at Blackburn Elementary in 2014 and received my first teaching job the next school year in second grade at Blackburn. I taught for 5 years within Blackburn Elementary, moving from second grade to sixth grade and ending in fifth grade. I enrolled at Gardner Webb University for a Masters in Executive Leadership Studies in 2017. After graduating with my Master's Degree in 2019, I interviewed and received the job of Assistant Principal at Claremont Elementary. I loved my time as a classroom teacher, but I knew I was called to make a larger impact on students and communities through a role in administration. My diverse experiences through camp counseling, traveling to Ireland to experience their education system, taking a bus tour of the school systems throughout North Carolina, teaching in Kenya, and working at Kids In College through Lenoir-Rhyne University have all given me a unique perspective through which I view education. 

    Education 
    B.A. Elementary Education, Lenoir-Rhyne University 
    M.A. in Education Administration and Supervision
    M.A. Executive Leadership Studies, Gardner Webb University

    Favorite Teacher
    I truly believe education is a calling, and through my faith, my pursuit of a career began. I was further influenced by my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. White. She was very loving and creative and made each student in her class feel special while also holding high standards. I vividly remember "constellation math," where she would turn out the lights and all the students would lie on the floor with our notebooks while she turned the projector on to the ceiling with math problems. She taught us all double dutch at recess and played along with our silly imaginations. She influenced me to be a teacher who reaches beyond the curriculum into the minds and hearts of students to let them know they are cared about and encouraged to be anything they dream to be. 

    Favorite Place in Catawba County
    My favorite places in Catawba County include Corinth Reformed Church, Tastefull Beans Coffee Shop, Udderly Delicious Ice Cream and all the beautiful parks in the area. 

    I joined Catawba County Schools because the mission of the system as a whole has always been and continues to be about educating the whole child. 

Meet our Office Staff