It gives me great pleasure to announce that Katherine “Kate” Beckner, current Assistant Principal at Clearview Elementary School, has been selected as the new Principal of Dogwood Elementary School effective August 1, 2021. 

Ms. Beckner is a dedicated and caring school-based leader with elementary and middle school teaching experiences. She began her career in education as a middle school Special Education Teacher at Kilmer Center working with children with significant disabilities. After eight years of dedicated service, she transferred to Thoreau Middle School and became an ESOL Teacher and later ESOL Department Chair. 

In 2015, Ms. Beckner began her career in administration as the Special Education Administrator at Fort Belvoir Elementary School. Ms. Beckner co-led the opening of Fort Belvoir Upper Elementary School. Seventy-five percent of the staff at the school were new to the building. Ms. Beckner was instrumental in the hiring and inducting of this new staff. Ms. Beckner developed the Positive Leadership Group - a partnership with predominantly male community members on Fort Belvoir with the goal of empowering underrepresented male children using lessons and characteristics from the Positivity Project. This program led to a decrease in discipline referrals for male children. 

In 2017, Ms. Beckner transferred to Clearview Elementary School as the K-6 Special Education Administrator. Additionally, Ms. Beckner was the instructional leader for the 5th and 6th Grade general education and AAP classes, Preschool Autism Classroom, Head Start, and Early Head Start. Ms. Beckner co-hosted comprehensive family engagement lessons on virtual learning which led to a 50% increase in student attendance. She revamped the yearly process of class placement for students with IEPs and ensured an equitable environment for student learning. Ms. Beckner led efforts to increase the proper identification of students with dyslexia. She successfully wrote a $10,000 grant and a Title II grant to increase parent engagement and to close achievement gaps. Ms. Beckner served as the Extended School Year Principal at Herndon Elementary and Clearview Elementary Schools, respectively. 

Ms. Becker received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Special Education from the University of Maryland and her K-12 Administration and Supervision endorsement through the University of Virginia Accelerated Certification Cohort. Please join me in welcoming Kate Beckner as the new principal of Dogwood Elementary School.