Paul Tramel, who will lead Lone Dell Elementary next school year, has a strong connection to the school.
Fox C-6 Board of Education members voted unanimously Feb. 6 to promote Tramel to principal. He had been the school’s assistant principal and will replace current Principal Jim Ray, who is retiring at the end of this school year.
Tramel, 42, of Imperial will take over as principal on July 1 and will be paid $113,000 next school year. He is being paid $85,296.36 as assistant principal this school year.
Ray’s annual salary is $119,881.70 this school year, and his last day with the district is June 30.
Fox Superintendent Paul Fregeau said Ray has done an excellent job as Lone Dell’s principal.
“Jim’s ability to build relationships with people is outstanding. There will definitely be a void in our district when he leaves,” Fregeau said.
He also said Tramel is well qualified to lead Lone Dell.
“Mr. Tramel had a well thought out and detailed plan to facilitate his transition from assistant principal to principal,” Fregeau said. “He was very cognizant of the needs of all stakeholder groups. All things considered, it can be beneficial to promote within the building or district. The familiarity with students, staff and families is a factor to consider.”
Tramel
Tramel has been Lone Dell’s assistant principal since the 2021-2022 school year. He also was one of the first students to attend the elementary school when it opened in 1990.
Tramel said he started attending Lone Dell, 2500 Tomahawk Drive, just outside Arnold, midway through his fourth grade year in the Fox C-6 School District.
He said Lone Dell was the third elementary school he attended in the district. He went to Meramec Heights Elementary in kindergarten and then Sherwood before moving on to Lone Dell.
“I have been thinking lately about being the first Lone Dell kid to lead this school,” Tramel said. “I always think of Lone Dell as my elementary school. For me to end up here is pretty neat.” Tramel has worked at Fox since 2003, starting as a sixth grade teacher at Simpson Elementary. He then taught at Ridgewood Middle School for 16 years, spending seven years teaching seventh grade geography, seven years teaching eighth grade American history and the last two years teaching physical education.
He became the assistant principal at Sherwood Elementary in 2020 before moving to Lone Dell.
Tramel said the last three school years at Lone Dell have helped prepare him for the principal job.
“Having the relationships already shaves off a lot of the work ahead of time,” he said. “If you end up in a different building or different district, there would be a steep learning curve. I still need to continue to form those bonds with the community and support the teachers and students. The whole purpose of this job is to do what is best for students. Being able to do that without having to learn everyone’s names and the day-to-day routines makes me happy.”
Tramel earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Southwest Missouri State University, now Missouri State University in Springfield, a master’s degree in educational administration from Missouri Baptist University and an educational specialist degree in educational leadership from St. Louis University, where is expects to complete his doctorate in educational leadership in May.
Tramel said Ray has helped prepare him for the principal job.
“What an incredible mentor (Ray) has been for me,” he said. “I can’t say enough things about him and how he has helped me become the leader that I am today. I would not be ready or prepared to take on this role if I hadn’t had Jim to support me.
“He has trained me from Day 1. I have tried to be a sponge as much as possible, and now that I know my time is limited with him, I am going to do my best to get every last drop of wisdom and guidance from him.”
Ray
Ray, 53, of Imperial has been principal at Lone Dell since the 2021-2022 school year. He took over for Luann Domek, who retired after 20 years as the school’s principal.
“I am just carrying on what great leaders have done here,” Ray said. “(Domek) laid such a great foundation. When you follow someone like Miss Domek and the groundwork that she laid here, it was pretty easy. There were not things that needed to change drastically. It was just continuing to try to achieve that excellency that we always strived for.”
Ray said he originally planned to stay at Lone Dell for one more school year but changed his mind when another career opportunity presented itself.
In August he will begin a new job as area director for the Ozark Gateway Region for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
“It is a unique opportunity that I really cannot pass up,” he said.
Ray said he will miss Lone Dell and the students and people he has worked with in the Fox district.
Ray has worked in the district since 2000, starting as a sixth-grade teacher at Meramec Heights Elementary. He was an assistant principal for the district from 2006 to 2021, working at Lone Dell, Clyde Hamrick, Hodge, Seckman, Sherwood and Simpson elementary schools.
Ray worked under Domek at Lone Dell from 2005 through 2007, and when he returned to the school in 2019, he split assistant principal duties between Lone Dell and Sherwood. The district assigned him to just Lone Dell at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, after hiring an assistant principal for Sherwood.
Ray said he did not start teaching until he was 30.
“I did construction prior to this, and I thought I was going to keep doing construction,” he said.
“But, when I went to church and started working with kids there, I decided I could make a difference,” he said.
Ray said he will do all he can to help Tramel get ready for the next school year.
“The transition from assistant principal to principal will be well managed,” Ray said.