A couple of years ago, Elizabeth English's mother found her daughter's first lesson plan packed away in a box in her Arlington home, the same home English grew up in as a child. "It's one of my most prize possessions," English said. "It was some sort of arts and craft project using a bar of Ivory soap."
When she was 7 years old, English already showed signs of being a future educator. The teacher-in-training said she watched Romper Room to get ideas for a play group that she ran in her parent's basement. "I would watch it in the afternoon and get ideas on what to do with the neighborhood children the next morning," English said.
On Sept. 2, English will be managing a much larger group of children when the doors open on a new year at Sunrise Valley Elementary School and the 500 or so Reston students that call it home. "I am very excited — excited and challenged at the same time," the first-time principal said. "The buck stops with me, now, so that is the challenging part. I have not been in a position before where the buck has stopped with me before. It's a big responsibility."
For the last two years, English was the assistant principal at Poplar Tree Elementary School in Chantilly. And while her title and responsibilities have changed, her philosophy has not. "First and foremost, I am a teacher," she said. "I think of myself as a teacher, even in this role and I am also a collaborator and that hasn't changed."
BORN AND RAISED in Arlington, English, a Yorktown High graduate, remembers watching her two brothers struggle with "very severe reading problems."
"I never wanted to see what happened to my siblings happen to another child," she said.
After graduating from Longwood College in Farmville, Va., she immediately went on to get her master's degree in reading education at the University of Virginia (UVA) in 1978. Enamored with Charlottesville, English decided to stay in the Virginia hamlet until she and her family returned to Northern Virginia in 1994.
While in Charlottesville, English, a mother of three, taught reading at several local elementary schools and in Albemarle County. English also taught undergraduate reading courses to education students and future elementary school teachers at UVA. "I've devoted my career to literacy and as a reading teacher," she said. "I was also a director of a master's degree program working with practicing teachers in southwest Virginia, primarily in Roanoke and even farther west than that."
It was there that English discovered her fondness for working directly with teachers. "I found at that time that I loved giving them knowledge about reading instruction and reading development," she said. "It is one of the things that brought me into administration."
AFTER SEVERAL YEARS working on curriculum and staff development issues for Fairfax County Schools in the language arts office and following her two-year stint at Poplar Tree, English says she is up to the challenge of leading a school in the same county where here career first started back in 1973 as a reading teacher.
Her colleagues at Poplar Tree are confident that English is ready to take the next step. Dr. Denise Chase, the principal at Poplar Tree, called English her “co-principal” and an invaluable asset to the school and community. “(English) possesses an incredible amount of knowledge about current research in education, in particular, she knows the language arts very well and also has an in-depth knowledge of the other curriculum areas and how best to integrate reading with all the other content areas,” said Chase. “Sunrise Valley is very lucky to have her as a principal.”
The Sunrise Valley community is ready to welcome its new principal, said PTA co-president Jennifer deCamp. "We are really excited to work with Dr. English. Change can be good and we really view Dr. English's arrival as a new chapter for Sunrise Valley," said deCamp, who has two children at Sunrise Valley.
English said she was ecstatic when she first heard the news. “Because I had been an educator for so long, I was very selective in the schools where I interviewed,” English said. “I really wanted a school that was devoted to its students and one that had a really knowledgeable staff that prided itself on being cutting edge. I think it is a really good match."
With each passing day English spends in her new office, she says she feels that much more comfortable with her decision. “This is probably one of the most child-centered schools and communities that I have had the privilege of working with in my career,” she said. "I have not met a single person or teacher who isn't devoted to the children.”
Even though English is a first-time principal, the hiring committee had no reservations about what kind of leader she would be, said deCamp, who participated in the interview process. "Everyone has to start somewhere," she said.
ENGLISH OFFICIALLY took over the reins from long-time principal Christine Brogan on July 1 and she says she has spent the last month meeting with the Sunrise Valley teachers and staff. "I want to know their hopes and dreams for a successful school year," she said. "For me, I know it will have been a success if every child has finished the year feeling as if they have accomplished something and learned something new.”
Now with less than a month before the first day of school, English is ready. "I can't wait for the first day," she said. "It's very quiet. It's very lonely without the children."
The new principal credited her predecessor, Brogan, with making the transition so seamless. English joked that there are some “eerie” similarities between Brogan and her successor. Both principals live in Leesburg and both began as reading teachers by trade and both drive the same silver BMW sedan. “Her BMW is younger,” English joked.
Brogan helped her successor acclimate to the school and to Reston, English said. “She retired and transitioned as a principal just the way I hope to do, in the very distant future,” she said. “Chris took great care with this school and I intend to follow her lead.”
The new PTA president isn't worried about English following the long shadow of Brogan. "I am confident that she will make great strides all on her own," deCamp said.
In the last week of school in June, Brogan introduced English to her new school shortly before the end of school in June. "All the kids in the classrooms were asking (Brogan) if we were getting a 'girl principal' or a 'boy principal.' I thought that was so charming."