As another school year begins, many new faces have been seen around NLRHS . There is also a new voice on the intercom each morning. Well, who is she? A new principal? Why, yes!

Raised by a single parent, Dr. Nadia Saint-Louis spent most of her childhood in Knoxville, Tennessee. When she was younger, Saint-Louis was involved in the youth group and multiple church activities. When she began high school, she was a member of the choir, student council, and the African American Cultural Awareness Club–all while maintaining a job! She was an overachiever, who started a school step team. She always had the desire to be different, creative, and involved in her community. “I tried to stay as involved as I could, that’s why I like to tell students to stay involved because it makes you connect more to your school experience,” she says.

After high school, she attended Tennessee Tech University, majoring in secondary education mathematics. She continued her education by receiving her master’s degree in Instructional Leadership from Trevecca University, which gave her the skills to become a school leader. Finally, she went on to earn her doctorate in education. Saint-Louis values education and loves to learn. “I love to be challenged and grow,” she professes.

Saint-Louis was an academy principal for 8 years before becoming the principal of NLRHS. Although her environment has changed, this role is nothing new to her. She describes her leadership style as servant leadership and collaborative leadership. “I want to have more involvement with collaborative teaming, just focusing on really strong teams,” she explains. 

Dr. Saint-Louis plans on improving NLRHS by focusing on “positive school culture”. “I want students to feel safe in this school, physically safe and mentally safe. I really want to shift the focus of safety and positive school culture to where people like coming to school, teachers and students,” she explains. 

Her plan is to improve NLRHS academic struggles. “I want students to know that I believe it’s student first with anything: student athlete, student involvement–so when it comes to academics, we’re here to get you all high school diplomas,” she states. She wants to find ways for students to be engaged on the ACT to improve our test scores. Since the school has shown a huge decline in academic performance, she is currently working on several solutions to help improve it: “I want students to be well-rounded students, so that if you’re playing a sport there’s the same emphasis on how they’re doing in the classroom, and how they’re behaving in school,” she adds.

When it comes to disciplinary actions, Saint- Louis is looking into ways to create intervention programs for troubled students. “I want us to be more proactive instead of reactive when students might be having a hard time getting in trouble, like finding ways to connect them with a mentor or mental health services that students need on the front end instead of waiting until they continue to get in trouble,”she says. She feels it’s important to look at the deeper cause of the issue and find ways for correction.  

Transitioning from Tennessee to Arkansas has been somewhat challenging however she is adjusting well. Just like many others, Saint-Louis enjoys watching movies, spending time with her friends, going out to eat, and reading. All and all Dr. Saint-Louis is very excited for the school year and the many more to come!