NIMS Principal Robbie Sipes is retiring at the end of the 2019-2020 school year

Special to Iredell Free News

Tonya Houpe has been named the new principal of North Iredell Middle School.

Houpe will assume her responsibilities on June 1, 2020. She will replace principal Robbie Sipes, who will retire at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

A veteran educator who has spent her 22-year career in Iredell-Statesville Schools, Houpe has served as a classroom teacher, an assistant principal, and most recently as principal at East Iredell Middle School.

Houpe stated that she is honored to have been asked to lead North Iredell Middle School.

“I look forward to building strong relationships with the students, staff, parents, and business partners at NIMS to continue the great work they are all doing. I want to thank my East Iredell Middle school family for allowing me to serve as principal for the past six years. The EIMS students, staff and community will always have a special place in my heart.”

A graduate of North Iredell High School, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from UNCC and her Master of Arts in Education from Gardner Webb University. She obtained her school administrator license from Appalachian State and here doctorate in Educational Leadership from Wingate University in 2015.

Superintendent Brady Johnson said he is grateful to have a leader of Houpe’s caliber as a member of the I-SS team.

“Dr. Houpe, who has been employed with I-SS since 1998, has a strong background in middle
instruction. Having served as principal at East Iredell Middle for the past six years, she has watched EIMS achieve high growth and worked with EIMS staff to build a Spanish Dual Immersion program.
She currently serves as the I-SS representative for the Middle School Principal Advisory Board for the
Southwest Education Alliance.”