Hello Knights!

My name is Nina Valli. After a decade long legal career, I stepped out of the courtroom and into the classroom. I began my teaching career in 2012 at Blue Ridge Middle School. Soon thereafter, I found myself at Broad Run High School. I am thrilled to currently be on faculty at John Champe High School, a school in my backyard so-to-speak. I have taught various courses in the Social Studies department. I am currently teaching World History and AP Human Geography.  

Prior to beginning my teaching career, I worked as a lawyer. I practiced, primarily, in the arena of family law. I also taught various paralegal classes for Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). From the time I was in law school, I felt that I was destined to become a teacher because with each new exposure I had in the teaching profession, I fell more and more in love with it. My experiences included being hired by my law school to tutor first year law students in analytical writing and working in various San Francisco high schools, where I taught Street Law. In addition to a lifetime of experiences (my legal background and practice, and my prior teaching experience (for Loudoun County Public Schools, NOVA, and my law school)) raising my girls has been the best preparation for my teaching career. My teaching philosophy includes treating my students as I treat my own girls. I set high, yet reasonable, expectations while maintaining a comfortable atmosphere where every student knows that I am concerned for his or her well-being and learning. 

In addition to teaching, I enjoy spending time with my family and traveling. In fact, over the past few summers I have taken students on trips with EF Tours. In the summer of 2018 I took my girls and my students to Spain, and in 2019 we went to five major European cities (Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Vienna, and Budapest), visiting numerous historic locations including Auschwitz in Poland. What a profound impact this trip had on my global cultural, historical, and economic world perspective. In the coming summers I plan to take student groups to Scotland, Ireland and England, and Italy and Greece. Having lived a summer in Prague, attending Charles University, I recognize the impact that traveling had on my understanding of the world around me, and thus I am excited to share this with my family and my students.  

My family and I live in South Riding. My husband is a retired U.S. Marine who currently works for Harris Corporation. My eldest daughter, Gillian graduated from the University of Notre Dame (go Irish!). She is currently serving as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. Gillian graduated from Freedom High School in 2017. My middle daughter, Anabelle (‘Annie’) attends the University of Alabama (go Bama!) where she is a member of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority. She graduated from St. Paul VI Catholic High School in 2020. Finally, Amelia (‘Mia’) is my youngest daughter. Mia attends St. Paul VI High School where she plays field hockey and softball. She also plays softball for Team Virginia. Our family is not complete without our furry friends. Mittens, our cat, was born in our house, under the office desk, in 2010. Ladybird, a pitbull mix, joined our family on January 14, 2020. She has my heart! Sweetest dog ever! Recently, my husband purchased an Aussie who is the most adorable thing ever! Check out my room for pictures! 

Now let's take care of a little classroom business:

- Everything you need will be our Schoology class, including content lessons and assignments. 

- You will turn all assignments in to Schoology. I do not accept assignments that are emailed. I have well over 100 students and receive numerous emails each day, so because I do not want to miss your assignments-- upload all assignments to Schoology.

- A copy of the syllabus is linked in Schoology. Students please read and abide by the expectations that I have listed there.

- If you have questions, email me. If you need to meet, my planning blocks are 2nd and 6th blocks, please email me to schedule a time to meet.