Louise Archer Welcomes New Assistant Principal

The daughter and grandaughter of teachers in Mountain Home, Ark., Jennifer Condra spent much of her childhood lining up her stuffed animals in front of a toy chalkboard for a day at school. 

As she grew older, her desire to head a classroom never wavered despite a few nudges from her mother, who taught middle school throughout Condra's childhood.

"Of course my mom was thinking other things for me. She would say, 'Do you want to follow my footsteps? Or do you want to be a doctor? Or something else?' But that's what I wanted to do. I never thought of doing anything other than teaching," said Condra, who graduated from the University of Arkansas with an elementary education degree.

Now in the 12th year of her education career, Condra has begun her first year in administration as an assistant principal at Louise Archer Elementary School.

She spent her first six years teaching outside of Dallas, then came to Fairfax County's Clearview Elementary School for a year before landing at Westgate Elementary for the next four years. She has taught second, third and fourth grades, and stepped into various leadership roles since she first stepped into a school as a teacher.

Having always loved the classroom atmosphere, she never expected her career to evolve into administration. But the principal and assistant principal at Westgate Elementary, Julie Easa and Juanita Harris, inspired her to take the leap.

"Once I became a teacher leader and taking charge of more things in the school, I found I also loved teaching teachers," said Condra, who received her graduate degree from Virginia Tech in 2011. "This job allows me to have that role for teachers and students. It wasn't my expectation when I started in education. I never thought I'd go into admin. It just naturally happened."

Though Condra knows her responsibilities have shifted, she does not worry she will become too detached from the classroom. She plans to be the type of administrator who teachers and students expect to see in the classrooms without worrying it means someone is in trouble.

"I don't want it to be odd when I walk into a classroom. I want the kids and teachers to know me," Condra said. "... I think my first goal this year is to work on cultivating relationships with students, staff, the community, teachers and parents. I think this year building relationships is a really key piece to foster cooperative relationships."

Condra is looking forward to students filling up the hallways in a couple weeks, but has been grateful to find the teachers and staff have already created a warm and exciting atmosphere.

"I'm really excited to be at Louise Archer. It's one of those places that right when you walk in the door, you pick up on a positive energy even when the kids aren't here," she said. "It's a good place to be so far."

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