TJ Principal Announces Retirement

POSTED: 7:42 p.m. EDT, January 11, 2008
By: FCCPS Communications

When the final bell of the 2007-2008 school year rings, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School Principal Trudy Taylor will say farewell to the Falls Church City Public Schools.  The veteran educator publicly announced today that she intends to retire at the end of the school year after serving nearly 40 years in public education.

“I do this with very mixed feelings,” Taylor said.  “I have loved being part of this great school system for almost my entire career.  The marvelous people I have had the privilege to work with have enriched my life tremendously, and I will continue to give it my best until my last day.”

Taylor is credited with facilitating many student initiatives at TJ including a new science lab, an outdoor classroom, a school-wide character education program, a breakfast program for low-income children, after-school tutoring services for students without educational support at home and extra-curricular clubs to encourage friendships for children with disabilities.  Under Taylor’s  watch, TJ has been consistently recognized for excellence by the Virginia Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education. 

In 1989, Taylor received the Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award from The Washington Post, and this year, she received the newspaper’s Distinguished Educational Leadership Award, making her one of only six educators in the region to receive both awards. 

Superintendent Lois Berlin said Taylor will be a tough act for her eventual successor to follow.

“Trudy has touched the lives of generations of students, scores of teachers and countless community members in her distinguished educational career,” Berlin said.  “Her leadership and her institutional knowledge will be sorely missed.”

Taylor started her career in Falls Church in1982 as the 2nd through 5th grade special education teacher at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School.  She rose through the leadership ranks, becoming special education coordinator in 1986, special needs and special education coordinator in 1999, assistant principal in 2001 and principal in 2003.

“Trudy and her skills as a very wise administrator will be keenly missed by me,” Mount Daniel Elementary School Principal Kathy Halayko said.  “As colleagues we have worked so well together at the elementary level both as principals and as special educators in our earlier years in Falls Church.  Our mutual goal has always been to help students and their parents make smooth transitions between Mount Daniel and TJ because, in effect, we are one elementary program. We have worked closely in developing the literacy and math programs, designing report cards and exploring PYP in more recent years.”

Over the course of her career, Taylor has earned the reputation of being a highly effective, creative and motivational leader who fosters community involvement in schools.  She is respected by her faculty and staff as a principal who leads by example, and she continues to be actively involved with classroom instruction, with her greatest motivation being the success of her students.

“Trudy is one of the most kindhearted and thoughtful people I know.” George Mason High Principal Bob Snee said upon hearing Taylor’s announcement.  “That was Trudy as a teacher and that is Trudy as a principal.  Many, many students, families, teachers and administrators are all grateful beneficiaries of Trudy’s very fine efforts and caring attitude.”

The school division’s newest principal, Ann McCarty, said she relied heavily on Taylor’s wise counsel during her first year as principal of Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School.

“Trudy has been a wonderful mentor sharing her experience and true caring for students and teachers,” McCarty said.  “She has helped me through tough times with sound advice and humor when needed.  Our shared loved for the Ohio State Buckeyes brought us even closer and always gave us something to talk about when school talk would get too heavy.  It has been great working with her and learning from her.”

Prior to joining the ranks of the FCCPS, Taylor served as a teacher in three other schools in Florida and Virginia.  She started her career in 1968 as a second grade teacher at Mayport Elementary School in Mayport, Florida, and then became the special education teacher at Finnegan Elementary School in Mayport the following year.  From 1978 to 1981, she was a preschool teacher at Spring-Mar Cooperative Preschool in Springfield, Va., and signed on with Thomas Jefferson Elementary School the following year. 

Taylor earned her BS in Education from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio and her MEd from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

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