I guess that a quick introduction is necessary here. We are Will & Susan Melbye, and we are both Elementary School Principals in southeast Virginia, in Southampton County.
Susan is in her second year as principal at Nottoway Elementary, which is located near Ivor, VA. NES has right around 300 students, and is a Title I School. In the summer of 2017, NES was awarded the Virginia Board of Education Distinguished Academic Achievement Award, along with full state accreditation. Personally, Susan is from Fries, in southwest Virginia. She is a Grayson County graduate, along with being an alumna of James Madison University. In 2007, she obtained her Masters in Education from Arizona State University. She is an avid social media participant, being active on Twitter, Voxer & Facebook. Without these connections, she claims she would not be where she is today. She is a staunch supporter of the ideas of Kids Deserve It!, and it's authors Adam Welcome & Todd Nesloney. She has introduced so many new programs and initiatives at NES, including classroom dance parties (she loves her portable speaker and disco ball), positive referrals for STAFF members, and literacy pumpkins.
Will is in his third year as principal at Riverdale Elementary School, which is located just outside of Franklin, VA. RES has a population of 545 students, and is the largest elementary school of the four in the district. Prior to taking the helm of the ship in the summer of 2015, I was the assistant for two years. For each of those two years, and the two previous to that, RES was not fully accredited. Math, reading and science scores all fell below the state benchmarks in those years. In 2016, Riverdale earned its first Full Accreditation since 2011. 2017 again saw Riverdale earn the full accreditation status, and the school and students were awarded the Virginia Board of Education Distinguished Academic Achievement Award. *(Of note here, roughly 20% of schools in the Commonwealth earned this award, it is funny that both of our schools earned them this year!) I am a Central High School grad of Crookston MN--those that went to Central, know it was Central and not Crookston High School. I squeezed through Mayville State with my BA in Education (can't forget that minor in Coaching, thanks for that one MaSU, use those classes every day), and earned a Masters in Education, in Administration and Supervision from Arizona State.
Together, we have three beautiful little girls. Here in the south, we call them hot messes, as they are all over the place, and really drive us every day. And I do mean drive us crazy, as we are always doing something; softball, volleyball, swimming, birthday parties, and whatever else comes up for 5-11 year olds. But they do drive us in our passion to do exceptional things for all kids. We both love having fun at our jobs, we love acting silly with all of our kids (blood and school), and we really enjoy our lives--as crazy as they may seem from time to time--and the time that we get to share together. We hope that we can share a few things with you on here, spread the joy a little bit, celebrate the insanity of our lives, and express the gratitude we have for all that we have.
Susan is in her second year as principal at Nottoway Elementary, which is located near Ivor, VA. NES has right around 300 students, and is a Title I School. In the summer of 2017, NES was awarded the Virginia Board of Education Distinguished Academic Achievement Award, along with full state accreditation. Personally, Susan is from Fries, in southwest Virginia. She is a Grayson County graduate, along with being an alumna of James Madison University. In 2007, she obtained her Masters in Education from Arizona State University. She is an avid social media participant, being active on Twitter, Voxer & Facebook. Without these connections, she claims she would not be where she is today. She is a staunch supporter of the ideas of Kids Deserve It!, and it's authors Adam Welcome & Todd Nesloney. She has introduced so many new programs and initiatives at NES, including classroom dance parties (she loves her portable speaker and disco ball), positive referrals for STAFF members, and literacy pumpkins.
Will is in his third year as principal at Riverdale Elementary School, which is located just outside of Franklin, VA. RES has a population of 545 students, and is the largest elementary school of the four in the district. Prior to taking the helm of the ship in the summer of 2015, I was the assistant for two years. For each of those two years, and the two previous to that, RES was not fully accredited. Math, reading and science scores all fell below the state benchmarks in those years. In 2016, Riverdale earned its first Full Accreditation since 2011. 2017 again saw Riverdale earn the full accreditation status, and the school and students were awarded the Virginia Board of Education Distinguished Academic Achievement Award. *(Of note here, roughly 20% of schools in the Commonwealth earned this award, it is funny that both of our schools earned them this year!) I am a Central High School grad of Crookston MN--those that went to Central, know it was Central and not Crookston High School. I squeezed through Mayville State with my BA in Education (can't forget that minor in Coaching, thanks for that one MaSU, use those classes every day), and earned a Masters in Education, in Administration and Supervision from Arizona State.
Together, we have three beautiful little girls. Here in the south, we call them hot messes, as they are all over the place, and really drive us every day. And I do mean drive us crazy, as we are always doing something; softball, volleyball, swimming, birthday parties, and whatever else comes up for 5-11 year olds. But they do drive us in our passion to do exceptional things for all kids. We both love having fun at our jobs, we love acting silly with all of our kids (blood and school), and we really enjoy our lives--as crazy as they may seem from time to time--and the time that we get to share together. We hope that we can share a few things with you on here, spread the joy a little bit, celebrate the insanity of our lives, and express the gratitude we have for all that we have.
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