By Justin Creech
Staff Writer
Thursday, August 11, 2011

When Woodlawn Elementary School students start school Sept. 6, along with the rest of Fairfax County Public Schools, the students will not only see new faces in their classrooms, but, they’ll also have a new school leader.

Dawn Hendricks started as the new principal at Fort Belvoir’s Woodlawn Elementary July 1.

She comes to Woodlawn after spending the last six years at Mount Eagle Elementary School as an assistant principal. She has taught in Fairfax County for the last 19 years having worked at Cameron and Riverside elementaries before going to Mount Eagle. She said in order for Woodlawn to be as successful as she wants it to be, every staff member is going to have to do their part.

“We told everyone we hired how hard we are going to be working, and what our dreams and focuses are and our vision for children,” said Hendricks. “They were all up for it, so, I’m very excited for this school year.”

Hendricks has taught multiple subjects, from U.S. History to reading, and even taught English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Her motto is: “None of us is as smart as all of us,” which is exactly the attitude she has brought to, and hopes to spread, at Woodlawn.

“I think I’m an expert in some areas, or close to, when it comes to the professional learning communities as I understand how to focus everything on learning, collaborating and getting results,” said Hendricks. “But, I haven’t been a reading teacher in a long time. I have never taught kindergarten alone, so I am not an expert in those areas. So, I always need to bring with me the people who are and listen to them.”

Hendricks was selected by Fairfax County Public Schools as an aspiring principal and participated in an intensive leadership cohort during the 2010-11 school year. One reason she was selected was due to the academic turnaround that occurred at Mount Eagle during her time there.

When Hendricks first arrived, Mount Eagle was only at a 47 percent pass rate in some subjects and only at 60 percent in their math scores. But, by the time she left, the school’s pass rate was 97 percent in math and 92 percent in reading.

“She’ll bring the right kind of focus, the right kind of community outreach and the right kind of energy around instruction that will make Woodlawn an exciting school to be at,” said Dr. Scott Brabrand, the district’s Cluster IV assistant superintendent.

Hendricks said the main reason she became a principal is from always seeing a practice and saying how she would run it if she were in charge.

“A lot of my peers and colleagues would say ‘if that’s what you think, then go into leadership,’” said Hendricks.

According to Hendricks, Brian Butler, current principal at Mount Eagle, played a key role in preparing her to become a principal, as they both shared the same vision on how to best educate young children.

“He was able to do that because we had trust and we had a relationship right away,” said Hendricks. “Another area I was very lucky in is he never introduced me as his assistant principal. He introduced me as his partner. So, even though I knew the buck always stopped with him, he included me in every decision he made. Decisions on finance, to where it is we are going with staff development I was included on that. So, I basically had a five-year, principal internship.”

Now that she is in charge, Hendricks has her vision for how to best improve Woodlawn’s academic performance, but still doesn’t believe her way should be the only way.

“We may not want to get there the same way, and that’s where we will have to challenge each other in a respectful way,” said Hendricks of her and her colleagues. “But, as long as we are focusing on the children, we will be OK.”