As the current principal of West Elementary School moves on to a new position, Lacee Lewis has been selected to take on the position next school year, at the very school where she began her Great Falls Public Schools career.
Lewis was selected by a panel composed of faculty, staff, parents, and district leaders with Great Falls Public schools. A Great Falls native, she is currently a student advocate at Meadowlark Elementary and an administrative intern at North middle, but also previously taught at West Elementary for fourteen years.
Lewis says, “I’m just excited to be back here, I call it my home. This is where I started and it taught me how to be a teacher. I had my step kids go here, so I'm just very excited to be Principal.”
Lewis brings nearly twenty years of experience in education to the position and is excited to be returning to West Elementary this fall to build a positive school culture that promotes safety, consistency, and proven instruction to positively impact students.
Lewis will be taking over the position from Lyndsey Stulc, the principal at West for the past six years, who will be moving on to the position of principal of Meadowlark Elementary School.
Stulc says “It has left a lot of people here a little bit nervous about the transition, and I do feel confident in Lacee's abilities. That really does take some stress and tension out of the move.”
Stulc says the best advice she can give to ensure a smooth transition for students and parents is for Lewis to hit the ground running, explaining, “Change can be hard for adults and for kids. So the more familiar that she can get with the kids and their families, I think everything else will just naturally fall in line. She’s going to do a great job, I am confident West is in good hands.”
Stulc and Lewis have already been working together on the transition, getting the kids familiar with Lewis this spring before she takes over in the fall. Lewis says, “I think just building those relationships with the kiddos, and the staff, and the families, that will be my top priority for sure.”
