*Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this story, Wade’s name was misspelled in the caption. As of Dec. 4, we have corrected it.
We’re a month into the new year, and there have been a variety of new faces popping up around campus. Napoleon Wade, the newest Assistant Principal for administration and athletics, is one of them.
Wade studied English education at Tuskegee University in Alabama, hoping to become a judge. He was later accepted into the University of Maryland for a Juris Doctorate and Public Policy degree but discovered that the legal path was not for him.
“In law school, you just have to be a voracious reader and not have an issue with it, and that just became very taxing for me,” Wade said.
After leaving law school, Wade was recruited by his aunt, the vice principal of Shaw Elementary at the time, to try his hand at education by becoming a substitute teacher. Inspired by this venture, Wade continued on this path and became a full-time teacher at several middle schools before getting his first job as an assistant principal at Plant High School.
“It’s ironic that I ended up working there. I went there, and my brothers went there,” Wade said. “It was a big deal for me to come back there and be a principal at the place I graduated from.”
When his plans to work in California were interrupted by the pandemic, Wade returned to Florida. After a brief amount of time at Sumner, he found a job at Robinson. This allowed him to see another side of the Plant-Robinson rivalry.
“The ironic thing about this position is that after going to and working at Plant, Robinson has always been kind of a rival,” Wade said. “I didn’t know Robinson was a legacy school like Plant, and the number of military families we have here is a great thing.”
Wade admits there is a lot to this job that he is new to, but he is working hard to adapt.
“Everything is new,” Wade said. “I’m overseeing a lot of people in the office, and in the lunchroom. It may not look like it now, but every paper on my desk has a job attached to it.”
Wade is already getting involved on campus, and he has plans on how to modernize the school
“One of my main goals is getting the rest of the school to look like the main part of the school,” Wade said. “I think they did the school an injustice by leaving that the way it was.”
Besides the building’s physical appearance, Wade would like to get the students more involved and make sure there is a variety of learning opportunities around campus.
“It’s like I tell my staff, don’t have the TAs just answer phones all day, teach them what you know… every environment is a learning environment, and it gives them something to put on a resume,” Wade said.
Wade has many expectations for the students and things he wants to help them with.
“I am the kind of teacher who holds kids accountable,” Wade said. “But I’m also the person that, if you ever need something, I will get it to you and get it in a high quality.”
Although there are many things Wade would like to improve about the school, there are also good things that he believes are already present.
“It’s great that this school has transformed from a school known for getting in fights to being calm, motivated and energized, ” Wade said. “The pride that you guys have in the R is awesome.”
