Fifth - Eighth Grade; High School History, Science, and English; Individualized Educational Programs

I became an Oak Meadow teacher 19 years ago, at the same time my son Justin began using the Oak Meadow curriculum in kindergarten. Teaching other Oak Meadow students right along with my own children has been such a blessing and taught me more than I ever could have imagined about how children learn. And the support I received knowing other families were devoting themselves to their children’s learning was priceless and encouraging to me. I went to undergraduate school at UCLA, studying Biology and Elementary Education. After graduating, I moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Blacksburg, Virginia where I still live today, to teach elementary school and pursue a Master’s Degree in Educational Supervision at Virginia Tech. After teaching for 7 years, I earned a doctorate degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from Virginia Tech and became principal in Amherst County, Virginia. After several years, I took a position at Virginia Tech teaching graduate students Educational Law and Educational Finance. As you can probably tell, learning is really important to me and I am very appreciative of those who taught me.

With over 30 years experience in the field of educating students from kindergarten through graduate school, I believe the most important things to accomplish during the schooling years are: to develop a desire in your child to become a "lifelong" learner; to have faith in your child’s innate abilities and know that each child’s "learning clock" unfolds at it’s own timetable; to teach in a loving environment where questioning, discussions and high expectations are the norm; to relax and enjoy the learning process together.