When students came back from summer break this school year and noticed a new administrator at the bus loop every afternoon and football game every Friday, the question in everyone’s mind was, who is this new woman and what is she like? 

“I’ve always been interested in leadership, I know it sounds cheesy, but I really just enjoy helping people,” said Assistant Principal Kristyn Inman. “Through these various leadership roles in the classroom, I came to understand how passionate I was about taking it on, making a difference, and impacting the school in a different way.”

Inman was recently hired to take over the position of an Assistant Principal following the retirement of Rick Brown. Before this year, she worked for thirteen years at Loudoun Valley High School as an English teacher. She also held various positions of leadership such as the SCA sponsor and a summer school principal for the county. 

Inman grew up in Sterling and has lived in Loudoun County her whole life. “I’ve always known Loudoun County High School to be a great place to go to school and know many people who graduated from here,” Inman said. “I know it’s a special school and I feel really lucky to have landed here because it seems like a really good fit for me and has a rich sense of tradition as well as diversity.”

She has always known she wanted to become a teacher. She took Teacher Cadet in high school in order to prepare herself and majored in English at Virginia Tech.

 “I was that cliche little kid that would always make my brother play school with me,” Inman said. “I think there’s people like me, who loved school growing up, but I think there’s also people who hated school, and both very important and a good balance of educators that can relate to students.”

Inman hopes to make connections with everyone at school and does not want students to fear her. “The stereotype is that administrators only deal with the kids who are in trouble, but I see it more as kids who are in need or kids who have an opportunity for growth, and we are there to help them through that,” Inman said. “When I was growing up, Assistant Principals were just the people you went to when you were in trouble and that’s the only time you ever talked to them, and I really think that this idea has shifted.” 

 Her day to day schedule is always full of different activities, and new surprises constantly occur. “While it can be a bit stressful not knowing what the day holds, I also think that it creates excitement and a challenge,” Inman said. 

She enjoys working together with the other assistant principals and believes they are a good team. “We each have our strengths and unique capabilities, but we also generally have the same philosophy about what’s best for the kids and teachers,” Inman said.

Throughout the day, primarily attends Collaborative Learning Training with teachers in order to support teachers and work with them through instructional aspects of school. 

“I also like to get into classrooms and do walkthroughs to not necessarily be evaluative, but just be a presence and see what teachers and kids are doing and see students outside of the office,” Inman said. 

Another part of Inman’s job is to evaluate certain teachers assigned to her during the year. “Each of us Assistant Principal’s monitors the growth and development of them as educators, they also set goals that we help them achieve and give them different feedback on how they are doing from a place of support,” Inman said. 

As an Assistant Principal, Inman helps cover athletic events, drama and music events, and any other activities occurring at school. “We are not only there to supervise it, but also just to be that form of support,” Inman said. 

Inman describes the importance of supporting teachers, getting teachers the resources they need to help students, and making students aware that there are boundaries and rules. 

“Helping teachers create an environment where students want to come in and learn is a huge priority and one of our main objectives,” Inman said. 

Inman also deals with students and their families who are in need of help. “I don’t like the word ‘discipline’ because although kids do something and get into trouble, I see it more as opportunities for these kids,” Inman said.

She also establishes that her main goal is to help kids through their situation. “Maybe there is something else going on with the student that is making them struggle with rules, but my job is to come up with a specific plan for each specific student to help them,” Inman said. “You guys are kids, you are going to make mistakes and get into trouble, if you didn’t there would be no point in me being here, and my job is really just to help them through that, instead of treating it as something that is irreversible.” 

Although Inman is unsure of what the future holds, she is ready to work her way through the school year. “I’m excited to continue to be here and get to know kids more and create new bonds with them,” Inman said.