Administration

Mrs. Derby is an experienced educator who specializes in working with a variety of student populations with a focus on reaching vulnerable learners. 

I am eagerly anticipating a successful 2020-2021 school year at Briar Woods. This school year marks the  beginning of my  17th year working in LCPS, and my third full-year as a Falcon administrator. 

Before joining Briar Woods, I was an English Language teacher at Potomac Falls HS for six and a half  years. I taught EL at Rosa Lee Carter before joining the Panthers, and started my career in education at Algonkian ES in 2004. I hold a master's degree from GMU in Education Leadership and Administration, and a second masters in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in Language Acquisition. I graduated from Marietta College with a B.A. in Business Management and a minor in English Literature. After graduating from college, I spent about ten years in the business world.

During the summer of 2017, I served as the summer Credit Recovery Principal at Dominion HS, and was the summer Dean in both 2016 and 2015. In the past, I  held several education leadership positions including EL and PFH Leadership Team representatives, LCPS EL Secondary Assessment Contact, LCPS  EL Mentor, ELL Summer School Facilitator, and a variety of leadership roles at Potomac Falls HS including interim Assistant Principal for a short time in 2016. I live in Potomac Falls with my husband and we have two daughters who graduated from PFH and AOS. We love animals and have two young dogs named Coco and Finnegan.  

I supervise the English Department, the English Learner program, the Science Department, the World Language Department, and Section 504 Plans.

My assigned student alphabet (by last name) is : S-Z

Please don't hesitate to contact me if I may be of assistance. 

   Email Mrs. Derby