Liberty Middle School Principal Vic Lee will retire June 30 after 37 years in public education.

"Mr. Lee, a well-respected and successful Principal, will be sorely missed by many and we wish him and his family all the best now and in the future," said Superintendent Gary Mathews in a Monday email.

Liberty Middle was recently recognized by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement for being in the top echelon (95 percentile) of Georgia schools for the greatest gains among schools on the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, Mathews said.

Liberty also had more than 20 percent of its students exceed standards on the CRCTs this year,

Mathews said the Liberyt Middle School principal position will be posted sometime Monday.