A name familiar to northeast Lakeland students, parents and educators has been tapped to be Lakeland Senior High School’s next leader.
Alain Douge, 45, has been appointed principal of LHS, effective this summer when current Principal Arthur Martinez retires.
“I always thought that Lakeland could be in my future,” Douge said Friday afternoon. “I’ve always thought it to be like the flagship school for the city, and, in a lot of ways, for the county, as well. So I’m excited to lead it.”
Douge, (pronounced doo-JAY), grew up in Naples and arrived in Polk County as a student at Florida Southern College, graduating in 2001. He began his teaching career as a special education teacher at Lake Gibson High School, along with teaching mathematics and algebra. He was principal at Lake Gibson Middle School before being chosen to help design and open Polk County’s newest high school, Davenport High, in 2021. He holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University.
“He’s been an effective leader who is well-liked and respected by students and staff,” said Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Frederick Heid. “We’re confident he’ll be successful at Lakeland High.”
North Lakeland School Board member Lisa Miller said Douge was serving as principal when her son Michael, who has special needs, attended Lake Gibson Middle School.
“Alain Douge is someone who is committed to the well-being and success of both students and staff,” Miller said. “He is approachable, compassionate, and innovative, always striving to create a positive and inclusive learning environment. I consider him to be one of the best we have.”
Douge said he doesn’t plan to make any changes upon arriving at LHS, which opened in 1902 and is the oldest public high school in Lakeland. The Dreadnaught football team has won nine state championships, while the cheer team has won five state titles and a national championship in 2023.
The school’s alumni include two Florida governors, the current Florida Supreme Court chief justice, the current U.S. representative from Lakeland, the Polk County sheriff, and multiple professional athletes, musicians and actors.
Douge said his philosophy about education is to maintain a student-first mentality.
“I’ve always led with being able to engage with our students, staff, and community outreach,” Douge said. “I connect with kids daily, if it’s with high fives, ask them how their days are going, what are you doing after school, are you are you going to practice, how did how did the game go, how did your math test go?”
Douge said he tries to maintain encouraging relationships with the students and to develop positive working relationships with everyone from the custodial team and cafeteria nutritionists to the district personnel and community stakeholders who can impact students’ lives.
”It’s something that I just do every day, just stay out of the office as much as I can so I can be engaged in their day-to-day,” he said. “It’s always important for me to have, you know, just great working relationships with people.”
As a former ESE teacher, he can spot struggling students. He said sometimes all it can take to turn around a student who might be on the edge of dropping out or heading down the wrong path is one person who cares.
“We have some great support systems at the school level that we can use to help kids get back on track,” he said. “A lot of times, it just takes connection with a mentor, somebody on campus that can connect with those students to help them. It’s not always the person that they might think it is, but you know, a lot of our kids, they’re dealing with the same things, day to day, so if we can help to find somebody to mentor them, to get back on track at a personal level, that will help if the different supports that we have built in our school (don’t) work.”
The importance of connection
Douge said he has watched Superintendent Heid lead the district and learned that Heid makes decisions and then stands by them.
“He’s very personable — I’ve appreciated that as well. And he’s somebody that, as a principal, you know, it can be very intimidating to call your big boss’s boss. But he makes it easy because he wants to make sure that you know he’s listening to what we need at the school level. And he is really thorough and thoughtful when he communicates with us.”
Douge was principal at Lake Gibson Middle School when one of his assistant principals and a math teacher were murdered by the estranged husband one of the women.
He said he learned how important personal relationships with his staff can be, to understand the struggles people are facing outside of the classroom.
The situation was “definitely the toughest that I dealt with as a school principal,” he said. “People have different things that they’re going through outside of the work environment, so it’s important that you have connections with them, to just be an ear to listen to the needs that they have. Just listen, just be a communicator.”
Douge and his wife Natalie own a home in north Lakeland. Natalie is a mental health counselor. They have two children: Tavian is a freshman at the University of Florida and Ayla is a sophomore at Lake Gibson High School, where his longtime friend, Ryan Vann, is principal.
Douge has a message for Dreadnaughts.
“I would like them to know I’m excited to start the next chapter at Lakeland High School,” he said. “It’s going to be a great 2024-25 school year and I’m looking forward to connecting with community, staff and our parents and students next school year.”
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