Fauquier Elementary School’s Principal Honored

By Arianne Aryanpur (Contact)

Sunday, December 2, 2007

When Joy Seward moved to Fauquier County 16 years ago, one of the reasons she began working for the public school system was to be on the same schedule as her two children.

She no longer has that perk. But as principal of W.G. Coleman Elementary School in The Plains, she has turned the school into her family, students and staff members say.

Seward is the recipient of this year’s Distinguished Educational Leadership Award for Fauquier County. The Washington Post award is granted every year to outstanding Washington area principals.

“I have seen her cry, give high-fives and even provide a little tough love with our students when necessary,” wrote Kathy L. Crane, a reading specialist at the school, in a letter supporting Seward’s nomination.

Seward, a former social worker, became a first-grade teacher at Grace Miller Elementary in 1993 after moving to Fauquier. In 2000, she became assistant principal at Pearson Elementary, and in 2002, she accepted the job as principal of Coleman Elementary. Seward said the transition from social work to education was a natural one.

“What I came to learn quickly about education is that you’re looking at the whole child, their life. You’re there for them, through everything that happens in their life, supporting them,” she said.

Photo: Dayna Smith

Special to The Washington Post

Joy Seward, principal of W.G. Coleman Elementary school, is the recipient of this year's Washington Post 2007 Distinguished Educational Leadership Award for Fauquier County.

She is known for having a personal touch, according to her nomination letters. Each year, she makes a point of memorizing the name of every student in the kindergarten class. She drops in to read to students and waits with children who miss the bus after school.

“One time our bus was late so she watched us,” one student wrote in a nomination letter. “All of a sudden a kid saw her mom and started to run [across the street]. Mrs. Seward stopped her. She is a hero.”

Seward is also known for ensuring that the needs of her students and staff members are met. For example, when a kindergartner’s leukemia was diagnosed last year, she started a basketball fundraiser and book drive to help cover the medical costs.

The student’s grandmother, Terry Myers, said Seward made it possible to provide him with the medical care and the sense of normalcy he needed.

“She saw that Cory received hardwood flooring in his bedroom and arranged a special visit from all the kindergarten classes to our house to sing Cory songs to help cheer him up,” Myers wrote in a nomination letter.

Seward applies that same level of attention to each of her students, according to the letters. If a child has no one to pick him up from school, she will give him a ride. She started a fund that helps needy students with the cost of eye exams, doctor visits and new shoes. And when students pass the Standards of Learning exams, she calls them to deliver the news.

“Especially the students that had to work the hardest to get there,” Seward said. “It’s important to know their efforts are appreciated and that we’re proud of them.”

On the day that Seward’s staff presented her with the award, she thought she was coming to school early for a parent-teacher conference.

“My head custodian said there was an emergency in the library,” Seward said. But when she entered the library, she was greeted by school officials, who presented her with letters of nomination and written comments from every student in the school. They even played a video of three former Coleman students nominating Seward for the award.

“It was just overwhelming. One of the most heartfelt moments of my life,” Seward said. “That day, there were tears rolling down my face.”

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