May 20, 2026
By CORY ANN MICHEL
Rutherford County Schools
Every morning LaVergne Lake Elementary Principal Paige Johnson can be found in the halls giving hugs and singing to students.
“I’m a hugger. If they want a hug, they get a hug,” Johnson said. “It’s a special place here. People leave and they’ll come back.”
After nine years as the school’s leader, Johnson has announced she is retiring at the end of the school year. Dr. Cary Holman has been named the new principal of the school.
Johnson was born and raised in Cleveland, Tennessee, and she moved to Murfreesboro in 1987 to attend MTSU. There she received her undergraduate degree in arts education and a master’s degree in administration supervision.
Johnson desired to both teach students and to help teachers in some capacity in a supervisory role.
She began teaching at a private school for four years until she later joined Rutherford County Schools in 1996. She taught at Roy Waldron Elementary for nine years as a third and fourth grade teacher and won teacher of the year twice.
While teaching, Johnson spent significant time attending teacher in-services and networking within the district. Through her connections and expertise, she was asked to speak to the Board about reinstating a program to help new teachers.
Although she described herself as being terrified to speak before the Board — and felt nauseous when they all hit their buttons after her speech to ask a question — the goal was accomplished. The Board moved forward with the decision to implement instructional facilitators for new teachers.
After applying for the new role, Johnson was granted a facilitator position and built the new teacher program in collaboration with fellow RCS educators Nona Hall, Lisa Kegler and Barbara Powers. She held this position for two years and had a case load of 13 RCS schools.
During her time as a new teacher facilitator, Johnson worked with several educators who are now leaders in the district, including Director of Schools Dr. Jimmy Sullivan, Federal Programs Coordinator Dr. Mark Gullion, and Siegel High Principal Stephen Wayne.
Through her facilitation, Johnson got to know the principals and their roles within the school very well. While Johnson loved being a facilitator, her colleagues pushed her to consider the idea of pursuing a career as a principal.
In 2007, LaVergne Lake Elementary opened its doors under Principal Jeff McCann, who urged Johnson to be his assistant principal, as he was the principal of Roy Waldron while Johnson taught there.
When McCann was later offered another job, Johnson earned the role as principal of LaVergne Lake.
Johnson’s former fourth grade student at Roy Waldron, JerriLynn Reed, went on to be hired by Johnson at LLE as a fourth-grade teacher.
“As her student, I absolutely loved her,” Reed said. “My memories of fourth grade with her are such a big reason as to why I went into education myself and taught fourth grade for some time. I have so many fond memories of her class.”
When Reed went on to teach under Johnson, the familial atmosphere remained.
“Even though I was new to LLE, being there with her made me feel very at home and not new at all.” Reed said.
The welcoming ambiance Johnson finds imperative for students and staff, has been built by both warmth and laughter. Although Johnson plays calming instrumental music in her office, she also has a long running prank war going on with her kindergarten team.
While Johnson has cultivated a warm school environment, it hasn’t come without challenges.
Johnson said families tend to move a lot in the LaVergne area, so students often don’t remain at LLE from kindergarten through fifth grade. Getting parents involved has also proven to be a challenge as their hours often don’t allow them the opportunity to participate within the school, tasking Johnson with out of the box ways to get them involved.
“Is it a challenge? Absolutely,” Johnson said. “But these kids need a champion.”
Along with the challenges of making sure her parents and students are taken care of, Johnson described how it can feel heavy being privy to all that is going on in the small community of her school. While it can be heavy, it has also strengthened her ties to all who have walked the halls with her. The challenges and successes only intensify the way Johnson will miss the families, students, and teachers she has shared the school with.
“I still have kids stop me in the grocery stores who are now in the middle and high school,” Johnson said. “Although being a principal was very much a challenge, I truly believe my steps have been ordered.”
When Johnson leaves the principal’s office for one last time, she has plans for a retirement full of adventure. While she describes those plans as a little up in the air, she will be spending a significant amount of time with her sister, traveling around the United States and enjoying vacations without taking work calls, responding to emails, or conducting zoom meetings. She’s looking forward to more time with family, her dogs, and time on the water boating and at the beach.
As for what she hopes to leave with her students, who she calls her “little hawks,” is advice she lives by.
“Never let anyone else define what you can or can’t do,” Johnson said. “Don’t be afraid to fail, be true to yourself and make sure you hang with good influences.”