Lafayette Parish School System Names Principals of the Year

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) - Three Lafayette Parish principals have earned top marks for their roles as leaders of their schools.

The Lafayette Parish School System announced earlier this week that Alex Melton, Tia Trahan, and Christy Hayes are the district's Principals of the Year. All three principals have overseen tremendous growth at the schools they've led.

Melton, the High School Principal of the Year, is the principal at David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy, a school he returned to after spending years as its assistant principal before moving to Early College Academy. While there, he saw the school maintain its A rating while continuing to grow.

Prior to becoming a principal, he taught math and science, and served as dean of students, as well as an athletic director.  He was appointed assistant principal of DTSMA in July of 2012 where he served for 5 years before his move to ECA.

In 2019 the United States Department of Education recognized Early College Academy as a 2019 National Blue Ribbon School, and in 2021 it was ranked the Highest Scoring School in the state along and awarded the 2021 College Success Award.

Trahan has been at Lafayette Middle School since 2017. She has worked in the parish since 2003, starting out with LPSS as a teacher at several schools. Her career as an administrator began when she was appointed assistant principal of Ridge Elementary. She also served as an AP at David Thibodaux and Ernest Gallet, as well as principal of Milton.

During her time at Lafayette Middle, the school has grown from a "D" rating in 2019 with an SPS of 55.6 to a "C" in 2022 with an SPS of 66.7. LMS has been named by the state as a “Comeback Campus Recognition” School.

Christy Hayes has been the principal at Martial F. Billeaud, Sr. Elementary School since 2019. Prior to that, she began her career as a special education teacher at Lerosen Elementary School and Live Oak Elementary before moving into an Instructional Support Service teacher role, where she worked with all of the new teachers in the district.

She was also an instructional leader at Woodvale Elementary before being promoted to assistant principal there.

Martial Billeaud is one of the district's newest schools, receiving its first school score in 2022 - an "A" rating.