Leading Tennessee
In preparation for another successful school year, we're excited to introduce our new leaders in Tennessee. These Principals and Assistant Principals are passionate educators and are ready to get to work on our mission to transform public education in Memphis.
Brittney Matt
Principal, Bluff City High School
Brittney Matt began her career as an English Language Arts teacher at Englewood High School and Jean Ribault Senior High School in Jacksonville, Florida. Brittney later embarked on her journey to educational leadership by first serving as an Instructional Coach at Teach For America’s national Summer Institute in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She most recently served as an Assistant Principal of Curriculum and an Academic Director at Global Outreach Charter Academy (GOCA) in Jacksonville, Florida. Under Brittney’s leadership at GOCA, she launched a robust after-school program fueled by the 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal grant and later created GOCA’s first "Transitioning to Middle School” course for all 6th grade students to establish the foundation for their long-term success. Brittney earned her Bachelor’s degree in English and Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of North Florida. She is excited to join the Bluff City Grey Wolves team as the Principal.
Lajuan Gray-Sylvester
Principal, Fairley High School
After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance from Delta State University, Lajuan received a Master’s of Arts in Secondary Education from Jackson State University and an additional Master’s in Educational Leadership from University of Tennessee at Martin. She is currently working on her Doctorate in Leadership and Policy Studies. This is Lajuan’s 15th year in education and her philosophy of education is that all children can learn and it is our duty to provide the optimal learning environment in which all students can excel. Prior to joining Green Dot, Lajuan’s career in education included school administration, curriculum coaching, and classroom teaching experience. She is married with four children. Lajuan is excited to join the Fairley Bulldog team as the Principal.
Clare Stolarski
Assistant Principal, Fairley High School
Clare Stolarski grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois and attended The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. While at the U of I, she realized her passion for addressing inequality through quality education. She understands the value of a great education and wants to help ensure students in Memphis have access to a quality education and access to abundant future opportunities. Clare relocated to Memphis after graduation, and focused her teaching career primarily on math instruction and how to best close math knowledge gaps within the classroom. Serving for a mentor teacher for MTR (Memphis Teacher Residency) and presenting professional development sessions for multiple organizations, Clare honed her instructional coaching and communication skills. During her free time, Clare enjoys reading, spending time with her two dogs, cooking, listening to and playing music, and playing board games with friends. She is excited to join the Bulldog team as an Assistant Principal.
Wade Williams
Assistant Principal, Kirby Middle School
Wade Williams is a dedicated educator who received his passion from his parents who both served as educators in south Mississippi. For the past ten years, he has served as both a teacher and administrator in Mississippi and Tennessee. He began his career in education as a math teacher at Armstrong Middle School, in Mississippi’s Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, where he was named the district’s most outstanding first year teacher. He later transitioned to Starkville High School where he taught advanced math, and earned STAR teacher honors twice. He then returned to AMS and served as an Assistant Principal for grades 6-8 before he and his family moved to Memphis. For the past two years he was the Director of Mathematics at KIPP Memphis Collegiate High School where he worked to raise the bar of rigor in math classes, and helped lead the way in improving the school’s TVAAS Numeracy score from a 1 to a 3 in his first year there. Wade currently lives in Memphis with his wife, Brea, and their three children (Caylix, Ryott, and Audyn). He is excited to join the Kirby Cougar team as an Assistant Principal.