Howdy, Team Python!

     I’m Mrs. Martha Rombach (pronounced Rom – Bok), and I'm on cloud nine about returning for my third year as the one and only Gifted Resource Teacher at Evergreen Mill. The truth is, it's simply incredible to teach and to collaborate with your children. The cherry on top is that I'm doing so in the same school where my five children spent 15 consecutive years as proud Pythons--and I kept busy volunteering as everything from room mom to PTA president. How cool is that?!

    For those who haven't met me yet...I'm a purple-and-gold waving James Madison University alum. Before arriving at Evergreen Mill, I spent nine years teaching 6th and 8th grade English and Communications. Shout out to my prior students and colleagues at River Bend and Eagle Ridge. Before my middle school years, I taught kindergarten at Hamilton Elementary and helped open Creighton's Corner Elementary. I'm a career switcher who previously held writing, promotion, and public relations jobs with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, People Magazine, Yankee Magazine, and Allergan Pharmaceutical. My gifted endorsement is through the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education.

     My husband, Mike, and I are blessed to be the parents of five really cool humans--all former Pythons! There’s Shelby, 29, an AWS account rep and adventure-seeking dog mom based in Buena Vista, CO. Then Cullen, 27, a Seattle-based newlywed (married to another former Python), Washington Post software developer, and Magic the Gathering gamer. Middle child Bryan, 25, an all-season athlete, lives in Seattle, WA, and works as a hardware engineer with Amazon's Project Kuiper. Cady, 23, UVA Class of '22, is a publicist based out of Brooklyn,NY, and an independent bookstore groupie. Sean, 20, is a world-traveling Virginia Tech Hokie who's studying urban planning and sustainable living.

     Outside of teaching, I’m an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys hiking, kayaking, biking, birdwatching, gardening, exploring national parks, and traversing off-road trails in my top-down orange Jeep. I love reading, cycling with CycleLuv, checking in on former students, rooting for the Steelers, and collecting Funko Pop figurines (I visited their Everrett, WA, headquarters this summer to make Funko Pop figurines of my "kids.")

GIFTED SERVICES:

     The LCPS Gifted & Talented Program underwent a redesign two years ago. Now, all students who receive gifted services do so at their home school. I am spearheading enrichment programs through four vehicles: FUSION, DCI, SEARCH, and EDGE. Forty-five minute SEARCH lessons are delivered biweekly to all K-3 classrooms. FUSION (formerly FUTURA) features multiple weekly push-in and pull-out enrichment sessions. DCI, or Differentiated Classroom Instruction, provides once weekly enrichment for 4th and 5th grade students who, during the gifted identification process, exhibited advanced skills in Language Arts or Math. EDGE, a targeted, biweekly program, is designed to identify and nurture potential talent within historically underrepresented populations. For further information about these programs--or about the LCPS gifted identification process--please see the separate links on my EMES web page.

I'm elated to be a member of the exceptional team at Evergreen Mill. If we haven't met yet, stop by and say hello during an EMES event. Please tell me all about your awesome Python!

Check back regularly for monthly updates and newsletters. Most importantly, communicate with me anytime with questions! I'm here to help. :)

Connect with Mrs. Rombach:

Email: martha.rombach@lcps.org

PS - Clicking on the green type will take you to an outside web link.