As many know, a wave of new administration has been welcomed into Stone Bridge with the addition of our new principal, Mr. Flynn. Although there is a lot of buzz about what new policies Mr. Flynn has and what he’s like as a principal, there is little to no talk of the three assistant principals.

Assistant principal Ms. Heidi Hayes, for example, is one of our new administrators. Ms. Hayes has been teaching in Loudoun county for the past seven years, and is a native of Washington state. Some may wonder why decided to become an administrator, seeing as she had been teaching both advanced placement english and research chemistry just last year.

“I started noticing challenges students were facing, and wondered how I could do more to support them,’’ Ms. Hayes said. “I really wanted be able to help more students, since I could only affect what went on inside my classroom as a teacher.”

Ms. Hayes recounts several times students had told her problems and challenges they had, and although she did her best, the solution was out of her control as a teacher. Ms. Hayes mentioned that a former Stone Bridge assistant principal, Ms. Sheila Alzate, had approached her in her second year of teaching and told her that she had leadership potential. This was very inspiring for Ms. Hayes and acted as a catalyst to her decision to become an assistant principal herself.

“It was only my second year. I was still trying to figure out if teaching was even the right job for me,” Ms. Hayes recounted. “Having someone who I looked up to tell me I had potential for a leadership position in the school was very meaningful to me.’’ Although Ms.Hayes is loving her new job as an assistant principal, it comes with many new challenges.

“There is a lot less downtime, administrating is definitely more fast-paced. There is more sense of urgency on the work I do now as well, because a lot of people want their problems solved as soon as possible,’’ Ms. Hayes said. “It’s hard to compare it to a teaching job– they each have their own unique challenges. But so far, being an assistant principal has been really fun.’’

Ms. Hayes looks forward to the year and is excited to make real change in the school and to help students in ways she never could before. “It’s a lot of work, but I am extremely grateful I have this opportunity. I am looking forward to a great year.’’