The Connection

With 23 years in education, Mark Granieri, age 43, of Ashburn was named new principal on Aug. 2 of Crossfield Elementary School on Fox Mill Road, Herndon, replacing former principal R.B. Yoshida, who moved to Virginia Beach.

"What I love most about my job is every day is different and I'm making a difference every day in the lives of our students," he said.

Granieri grew up in Springfield and attended Hunt Valley Elementary School where he was SCA President and later returned to become a fifth-grade teacher there for two years. He graduated from West Springfield High School, and went to college at James Madison University, graduating with a degree in communications in 1995, with hopes of working in television, radio or newspapers. He started working at Kiddie Country Day Care in Burke full time and discovered that he was drawn to working with young kids.

So he enrolled at George Mason University to earn a Master's in Education, graduating in 1999. After working at Hunt Valley Elementary, he switched to Kilmer Middle and Liberty Middle schools where he taught a variety of technology classes and math for four years. He then spent seven years as a technology specialist at Navy Elementary and then became an assistant principal at Forest Edge Elementary in Reston, and then assistant principal at Crossfield Elementary and finally, principal.

"We have a very active and engaged community who cares deeply about Crossfield Elementary School and the academic, social and emotional supports that the school offers. Our PTO is very involved in our school programs. We have a lot of volunteers who help out the classroom teachers," he said.

He added: "The Crossfield community has a very low mobility rate. Students and families tend to stay in the area and make Crossfield an integral part of the community."

THIS YEAR, Crossfield will have 690 students in grades K-6, and 80 total staff members. The 2015-2016 ethnic breakdown of students is 62.6 percent white, 22.9 percent Asian, 2.3 percent Black, 7.7 percent Hispanic, and 4.3 percent other, according to the school website. Crossfield is one of five schools that feed into the Oakton High Pyramid.

"We have six advanced academic classes for four grades: third through sixth. Those students have gone through the Fairfax County screening process for Level IV Academics, which entails acceleration in math and enriched activities in the other disciplines. Teachers have to be certified to teach advanced academics," he said.

Putting his writing skills to good use, he said his personal goal is to have all the students become writers. "We're really promoting writing; we're aiming for all students to become writers and to express their thoughts, opinions and dreams to themselves, their classmates, their teachers, parents and community... All students have a story to tell and we want to hear their stories."

As far as challenges, he said his main challenge is to ensure that students who are not meeting benchmarks -- and not yet identified as being at risk -- get the necessary supports to succeed.

For goals, he aims to work closely with the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). "I aim to work closely with the PTO to help build that sense of community and bridge the school, between the school and the home," he said.

Project-based learning is a major initiative in the school -- with students working in groups and engaging in inquiry-based learning, he said. "We have a dedicated innovation lab headed by our advanced academic resource teacher, Ms. Graham, that ensures that all students have access to advanced curricula and strategies. All students at Crossfield engage in a morning meeting designed to promote community and human relations skills," he said.

Whenever it's a student's birthday, Granieri is known to show up in their classroom and instruct everyone to do jumping jacks, with the whole class following along, he said.

Rebecca Jones, Elementary School Band Director, has known Granieri for more than 10 years and has worked at Crossfield since 2009. "I cannot think of a more deserving person to lead our staff, students and community," she said. "Mark has a passion for providing a well-rounded education for all students that encompasses core academics, but also the fine and performing arts...Mark stands out to me because of his wealth of knowledge, his experience, and his dedication to the job, and fabulous sense of humor."

John Coch, principal of Navy Elementary School, said Granieri served as his interim Assistant Principal five years ago. "During that time observing Mr. Granieri, I saw wonderful work ethic and compassion of wanting to be a good principal," he said.

Katie Hand, who was Granieri's principal at Navy Elementary, and who has known him since he was in second grade, said: "Mark will be outstanding in his new role. He loves working with students, teachers and parents. He's a born leader, a good listener with a creative mind and a true problem solver. He is a natural comedian with an uncanny sense of humor, which endears him to those who meet him. He takes his job seriously, but is able to laugh at himself. I'm delighted that he is Crossfield's new principal!"

GRANIERI had called her at Navy for an interview for the School Based Technology Specialist position. "With our new technology, he set up our morning news show and each Friday, during football season, he would appear 'live' on our morning news show as Mr. Redskin, giving his prediction for the weekend game. The whole school would watch intently, as Mark, in his second grade Redskin helmet, gave the Redskins a winning score," she said.

Mark Granieri is married to wife Rae; the couple resides in Ashburn and has a son named Timothy, age 4; and daughter Tessa, age 2.