ACPS Completes Senior Leadership Team With Appointment of Three New Assistant Principals
Contact: Phil Giaramita, Public Affairs and Strategic Communications Officer
434-972-4049
(ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Virginia) – Albemarle County Public Schools has completed their senior leadership teams for Albemarle and Western Albemarle high schools and Henley Middle School with three appointments of assistant principals.
Kasaundra Blount is a new assistant principal for the division’s largest high school, joining Albemarle High after serving as an assistant principal at Armstrong High School in Richmond. Blount previously was an assistant principal for the Adult Career Development Center in Richmond and dean of students at Meadowbrook High School, also in Richmond.
Jennifer Sublette is a new assistant principal at her alma mater, Western Albemarle High School. Over the past five years, she has served as a lead coach in the division’s central office, working with instructional coaches and faculty in the division’s social studies, gifted and library and media services programs.
The new assistant principal for Henley is Natalie Farrell, who brings 12 years of experience as a teacher and administrator in Orlando, Florida, to Albemarle County. Most recently, she was an assistant principal of instruction for Lake Nona Middle School in Orlando, having served prior to that as an academic dean and testing coordinator for East River High School in the same city.
“We are very fortunate that Albemarle County Public Schools continues to be a school division of choice for so many outstanding education professionals,” said Dr. Clare Keiser, Assistant Director of Educator Quality. “Our focus on project-based learning and the four “Cs” for students—creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication—appeals to innovative administrators who want to move beyond the multiple choice approach to education,” Dr. Keiser added.
Blount had a broad portfolio at Armstrong, supervising several academic departments as well as the school’s performance learning center and its remediation and community service programs. She also supported school planning. Among her duties at the Adult Career Development Center were career and technical education and initiatives to lower the school’s drop-out rate.
She is a graduate of Hampton University with a BA in political science and a master’s degree in teaching. She also holds a post master’s certification in administration and supervision from
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Blount began her education career as a social studies and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) teacher.
Sublette not only graduated from Western Albemarle High School, but she taught history and geography at the school for eight years prior to becoming a lead coach. Her responsibilities in the latter role included professional development of faculty, the design and coordination of curricula and the redesign of media centers and gifted resource programs for all of the division’s 26 schools. She also served as a coordinator for the division’s Professional Learning Community model that promotes sharing of best practices among teachers and was a member of the statewide Standards of Learning assessment item review committee.
An undergraduate of the University of Virginia (UVa), Sublette earned her MAT in secondary social studies from American University and her Ed.S. in Administration and Supervision from UVa.
Farrell’s responsibilities at Lake Nona Middle School included professional development and teacher evaluations, student services, parent outreach and the supervision of Language Arts, reading, guidance and special education. She began her career as a math teacher for Timber Creek High School moving on to Lake Nona Middle and High School in Orlando, where she also coached girls’ lacrosse. At Lake Nona, Farrell was middle school teacher of the year. While she was the academic dean at East River, the school earned it first “A” rating.
She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Central Florida (UCF), and a master of arts in curriculum and instruction from the same school. She also received certification as an education specialist from UCF in its educational leadership program.
