Hi Ya’ll! I am a reading specialist here at Barrett Elementary and work primarily with Kindergarten and First grade. I have been at Barrett since 2007. Prior to that, I worked in Loudoun County Public Schools as a second grade teacher for eight years. In 2018, I received my National Board Teaching Certificate in Literacy / Reading – Language Arts for Early and Middle Childhood.

I was born and raised in Nashville, TN, home to the Grand Ole Opry, Goo Goo Clusters, and Vanderbilt Basketball. I graduated from James Madison University and then received a Masters in Reading from the University of Virginia. I love living in the Washington DC area and having access to all that it provides: paddle boating around the Jefferson Memorial, walking through the American Art Museum, or trying out a new restaurant from the Washingtonian’s 100 Best Restaurants.

I am a mother of two: Kate and Thomas. My kids share a love of reading with me and are always up for a new adventure.  Kate loves to sing and dance while Thomas wants to share the cooking responsibilities with Daddy.

My goals at Barrett are to foster a love of learning as well as increase overall reading and writing engagement and stamina. One way I have done this is through author visits. Kelly Yang, the author of Front Desk, gave a virtual talk to our students. Afterwards, students were invited to join a book club to read her book. We met weekly during lunch to discuss the characters, plot and our reactions. Also I opened the Barrett Elementary Library during the summer for library checkout and book chats. We had 50 students come for book checkout, read alouds, and estimating to win free books.