Dear South Family,

It is an honor and a privilege to have been chosen to serve you and to introduce myself as your new principal. My hope is
that together we will continue the success South Elementary has established over the years. I am humbled to have the opportunity
to serve you, our students, and our families in Caswell.

A little about me… I am from Cleveland-Columbus, Ohio area; however, I have lived in Morgantown, WV where I completed
my undergraduate and masters work at West Virginia University and Salem International University. I have been married to my best
friend for 25 years. He and I have two daughters, ages 23 and 24. Even as adults, they keep me on my toes! I recently relocated to
NC to be near family. I was blessed to have the opportunity to come to Caswell County to work at N. L. Dillard to serve in their
summer school program and then afforded the opportunity to serve at BYSHS for the 21/22 school year. I must say, I have never
worked in a county in which the school community shows so much love and commitment to everyone with great collaboration, and
high accessibility to district directors and the superintendent. Caswell embodies and nurtures the environment for a familial
atmosphere in all areas from the district level, to the school building level, and on to the community. This is where I now call home!

This upcoming 2022-2023 school year will be my 15 th year in education. I taught at all programmatic levels. For 4 years, I
served as a HS principal and testing coordinator. I also had the opportunity to serve as a director of education at the college level.
My studies include my undergraduate degree(s) in art education, intermediate photography, and art history. My master’s program
degrees are in special education with an emphasis in Autism, reading literacy leadership, and educational leadership. I am finishing
up, by the end of the year, my doctorate in education focusing on educational leadership at Walden University.

It is my philosophy that serving in education is a lifelong calling and journey. It’s a matter of the heart. My heart is to serve
you and build strong lasting relationships with you that enable us to collaborate and work together to celebrate our successes and
conquer our challenges. Without strong connections and positive relationships, it is impossible to serve and meet the needs of
everyone in our educational community. It is my mission to serve YOU and meet your needs. My vision is that we will operate a
TEAM working together so that everyone, teachers, staff, students, and FAMILIES are successful and have their needs met. Our
students are the "why" in what we do, and if we work as a team, our students will be successful in their individual growth.

In closing, I have an open-door policy; therefore, my door is always open to you! Together, we will continue the legacy of service and success the South Family diligently integrates to meet the needs of our students and families. I look forward to celebrating our collective successes during this upcoming school year and years to come! Soak in the rest of the summer and ENJOY your families!

I look forward to meeting and hearing from ALL of our Families!
elizabeth.thomas@caswell.k12.nc.us
336-694-1212

Sincerely,
Mrs. Thomas, EdS