Mrs. Cindy Toppen

I am excited to be entering my fourth year of teaching! This is my third year at Trailside Middle School as a teacher, but both of my children attended Trailside so I feel like I have been part of it for much longer. I am thrilled to again be teaching 6th grade math after making a career change from designing buildings as a structural engineer. I completed the Virginia Career Switcher Alternative Route to Licensure program through Shenandoah University and taught my first year at Mercer Middle School. While my first three years have been challenging with the pandemic, I believe I have grown all the more because of it, as have your children!

I grew up north of Baltimore, Maryland, and I attended Cornell University for my bachelor's and master's degrees in Civil Engineering. While I enjoyed being an engineer, I have loved the switch to teaching! I love that with my engineering experience, I have a deeper understanding of how math applies to real world problem solving. And I hope that I can inspire my students to see that math really is important to engaging in the world around them.

On a personal note, I have lived in Ashburn for 15 years with my husband and two children, Katy (18) and Andrew (16). Katy will be in her first year at James Madison University and Andrew will be a junior at Stone Bridge High School this year. So your community is my community! I also have an adorable dog Rosie who I'm sure you kids will hear a lot about this year. 

I am so excited to get to know my students this year and get started on our math journey!