Ellen Stites

Dr. Ellen Stites Our final inductee into the Johnson City Schools Hall of Fame Class of 2020 is Dr. Ellen Stites Wyatt. Dr. Stites served in numerous roles in Johnson City Schools from August 1975 until she retired in June 2005, but no matter her title, her care for students remained paramount. She created a nurturing environment where both students and teachers could and would succeed. Stites is one of the only known principals to open two brand new schools for Johnson City, as she was the principal at Woodland when it opened in 1992 and at Indian Trail Middle School when it opened in 1998. She also served as principal at Henry Johnson. Before her time as an administrator, Stites taught first, second and fifth grade at North Side Elementary. She also served as a reading diagnostician at North Side, King Springs and Keystone. No matter her accomplishments as an educator Stites said, “the greatest joy I had was teaching children to read.”