With the sudden leave of former Fauquier High School (FHS) Principal Dr. David Ferguson, FHS was in search of a new principal to fill the void. Donna Guzman, a very experienced educator and former FHS assistant principal, stepped in as FHS’ interim (temporary) principal.
Guzman grew up in Maryland, attending the University of Maryland for her undergraduate degree. Guzman is a holder of two master degrees, one in Curriculum and Instruction, and another in Administration and Supervision. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D in Educational Leadership, with all of these degrees being obtained through George Mason University.
Guzman has had a fairly prolific career in education, with multiple degrees to back her name, she has been working in education for 26 years. Starting as an elementary school teacher, she taught first and second grade classes in Fairfax County. Though in her last year, she was an instructional coach instead, working with teachers to help with lesson planning and classroom management. After getting her degree in Administration, she transferred over to Fauquier County about 11 years ago. Previously working at FHS as an assistant principal as well as working as the principal of Marshall Middle School, Guzman is back at FHS to finish out the year as principal. Even with this prior experience, Guzman feels she is at somewhat of a disadvantage, coming in “behind the eightball,” amid a constantly changing school atmosphere.
A former Falcon as well, Guzman was part of the Newark Falcons back at her high school, where she realized she wanted to work in education. “I took a child development course where we were teaching preschool-age children … that’s when I really realized that [teaching] is what I wanted to do with my life. After that is when I decided I was going to go to school for education,” Guzman reminisced.
One of the most important things for a principal is what motivates them, for Guzman, it’s the students. “[Students], that’s why we get into this job … They are the reason why us [educators] do this job. It gives us a lot of energy. That’s my passion,” Guzman stated.
With Guzman stressing the importance of the students, some of her new policies have been focused on student safety. One of the more controversial policies has been the policy prohibiting students from staying in teachers’ classrooms during lunch periods. A policy that’s been in place, but not fully enforced before, Guzman hopes to put safety first instead of disrupting some students’ lunch experience. “I just want to make sure that everybody is safe … I think my big focuses are keeping [students] safe and then making sure students get the education they deserve.” Guzman sympathizes, “I think that teachers’ intentions are really good. If kids have anxiety or they just don’t like a noisy lunch, and they have troubles with those things, I can see students wanting to go somewhere to eat.”
Though Guzman does not plan to stay as FHS’ principal past this year, she hopes to have a lasting effect on FHS and its occupants.
