Principal's Message

My career in education began in 1992 after working for several years in the construction industry. I became a teacher to help students who struggled to believe they could achieve by helping them learn to overcome their struggles.

In 1992 I married a teacher from Stafford County and we became the proud parents of five sons. After teaching for seven years, I became the assistant principal of Mary Walter Elementary in 1999. When the principal retired, I became the principal in 2002. My tenure as principal has been one of the most enjoyable professional experiences of my life and has allowed me interact with many wonderful students and parents.

In my spare time I like to spend time kayaking and fishing in the Outer Banks with my sons.

I am a Virginia native who was born in Virginia Beach in 1968. My parents were recent graduates from pharmacy school in Richmond, and by the time I was two, they moved to Floyd County in the southwestern part of the state. At the age of five, they moved one more time to Christiansburg, Virginia, and this is the town I called home for nearly two decades. It was there, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I discovered that I loved to learn. 

After graduating from Christiansburg High School, I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Virginia Tech. In 1991, I married my best friend, Randy Beard, and I got my first teaching job at Marshall Middle School in Fauquier County. I was hired to teach 7th grade English and 8th grade Pre-Algebra. Over the next 12 years, I continued to work with 7th and 8th graders, and I pursued many learning opportunities at the University of Virginia and George Mason University. I was teaching Algebra I and Geometry when I was presented with an opportunity to work with Gifted and Talented students at C. Hunter Ritchie Elementary School. It was during this time I earned a Master’s of Science in Reading and Literacy with two other teachers from Ritchie. After five years at the elementary level, I went back to Marshall Middle School and remained there until 2020. By 2010, I had completed a certification program in Educational Leadership at Mary Washington University. For nearly two years, I drove past Mary Walter twice a week. Little did I know I was to be interviewed for the Assistant Principal position at Mary Walter In February of 2020, just before the COVID shut-down. I was hired and began the 2020-2021 School Year, never imagining how COVID would alter the way teaching and learning would take place for the next 4 years.

My husband and I moved to Fauquier County almost 18 years ago, and it is here we have raised three beautiful children: Douglas who is almost 30 years old, Caroline who is 26, and Lyle who is 19. They were all educated in Fauquier County Public Schools, and I think of them daily as I consider the children I work with at Mary Walter. I ask myself everyday, “Are you helping to create a school you would be happy to send your own children?” I enjoy working and serving the southern end of our county. Mary Walter is a special place, full of extraordinary people. I feel truly fortunate to be amongst you.