Nardos King

Nardos King is an expert educational administrator and teacher whose passion for enhancing students' motivation has earned her the Outstanding First-Year Principal Award from Fairfax County Public Schools. Educated at Virginia State University, George Washington University, and George Mason University, Nardos King has worked in education for more than two decades, beginning with several positions in public schools in Lawton, Oklahoma, and obtaining her current position as Principal of Mount Vernon High School in 2006. Ms. King has earned praise from her colleagues and employees for her unyielding work ethic, leadership by example, and commitment to her students' academic achievement. Since beginning as Principal at Mount Vernon High School, Nardos King has set a number of goals for the school, including raising the involvement of underrepresented Hispanic parents, creating bonds between students and staff, and making Mount Vernon High School a constructive part of its community. Ms. King has implemented a number of programs to meet these goals, and she has continued to direct previously established programs. To bring new ideas to teachers and encourage them in their efforts, Nardos King created Capturing Kids' Hearts, which teaches staff of Mount Vernon's pyramid schools to make connections with their students. Recently, she established the SOAR (Students on Academic Rise) program, mandating students with failing grades to undergo remediation during the half-hour Major Time class period. Another important initiative for the 2011-2012 school year is MVP: Men of Vision and Purpose. This effort focuses on teaching leadership and academic skills to African American male students and overcoming negative representations of young black men. In a daring move to inspire students, Nardos King vowed in her first year as Principal to cut her hair into a mohawk on the condition that the school raise its Standards of Learning scores to 80 percent or higher. Since the students achieved this goal, she kept her promise by restyling her hair. Currently, Ms. King is working toward the completion of her Ed.D. in Education Leadership and Policy.