Mr. Shaffer, Dave

Dave Shaffer serves as the Principal of River Bend Middle School in Sterling, Virginia. He received two Bachelor of Arts degrees from Cedarville University, one in Sports Management and one in K-12 Education. He received his Master’s in Educational Leadership from Shenandoah University and has a Pre-K-12 Administration and Supervision endorsement. Mr. Shaffer has served as the Principal of River Bend Middle School since 2014. For the past 23 years, he has worked in Loudoun County Public Schools as a teacher, dean, assistant principal, and principal. Under his leadership, River Bend Middle School has been named as a National School of Distinction from the Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE) and a National School to Watch from the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform.  

In addition to his role as a school principal, Mr. Shaffer has served in many leadership roles. In 2023, he joined the leadership faculty for the Association of Middle Level Education. He has served as the Virginia State Director and Site Visit Coordinator for the Schools to Watch program sponsored by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. In Virginia, he has served as the Region IV Director for the Virginia Middle School Association and an educational consultant for the Educational Advisory Counsel for the Washington Commander’s Charitable Foundation.

Mr. Shaffer has been recognized in Loudoun County as a 2009 Leesburg Today 30 Under 30 recipient and a 2018 Loudoun Now Top 40 under 40 Professional. He was a nominee for the NASSP Digital Principal of the Year and the Washington Post Principal of the Year. In 2019, Mr. Shaffer was recognized as the Virginia Educator of the Year from the Virginia Middle School Association. He has presented at various state and national conferences including the Association for Middle Level Education Annual Conference and Leadership Institute, the Virginia Middle School Association State Conference, the Schools to Watch National Conference, Inspire Loudoun, Blended Learning Universe Conference, and the Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development State Conference. 

In his free time, Mr. Shaffer enjoys spending time with his wife, three children, and dog named Siri. He enjoys running, biking, reading, traveling, and watching UNC Tarheels Basketball and the Washington Commanders.