Get ready to be excited because Osbourn has a fantastic new principal joining the Eagles. With tons of experience and a huge passion for education, our new principal Dr. Chapman is all about making Osbourn the best it can be. She has a strong background in leadership and is super-committed to helping each and every Eagle succeed. We can’t wait to see the awesome changes and new ideas she’ll bring to the Osbourn community. Her work is already being recognized for its ability to improve the quality of education and develop more effective learning environments for everyone. Dr. Chapman is excited to start her amazing journey at Osbourn.

I feel incredibly honored to have had the opportunity to interview Dr. Chapman. This experience was not only a privilege but also a significant moment in my academic journey. Dr. Chapman’s leadership and dedication to creating a positive learning environment have inspired me. Being able to talk to her directly as a Talon reporter was a great chance to learn new things and get her perspective on what makes a school environment positive and effective. This interview really helped me grow and understand what makes a good educational leader.

Here’s my interview.

Teysi: How would you describe the vision you have for Osbourn’s future?

Dr. Chapman: “I think this school really has a lot of potential to set our students up to have thriving futures. We have more diverse programs at this school than any other school in Northern Virginia, so no matter what interest area a student has, we have something here to help support them in studying it. We have a lot of community connections and we have a great pipeline to get students either into the college track or into a careers study track. I think if everyone just would be able to engage and realize how many opportunities they have at this school, they’d realize what a blessing it is that this is actually the school they get to go to.“ 

Teysi: How would you describe Osbourn and it’s Eagles?

Dr. Chapman: “The biggest thing I felt when I started working here was family. I really do feel like everyone in this building has someone that they are connected to. It may not be everyone to each other, but it’s something we can grow towards. Whether it’s a student or a staff member, there are people who they look forward to seeing when they come here. I see people supporting each other here. One of the neatest things I saw was at the summer school graduation. I think a student on the basketball team graduated, and his entire team came out and they were in the audience supporting him and then taking pictures with him at the end. That really impressed me to see how much the people at this school kind of lift each other up and support one another. They want to make sure that everybody wins at the end.” 

Teysi: How do you plan to support students’ mental health and well-being?

Dr. Chapman: “I think one of the biggest things about students’ mental health and well-being is I’ve always thought it is very important that every kid has an identified, trusted adult at this school. We’re a little unique in that we’re not like the other schools that have a flex period or an advisory or something like that- where you have that same adult where you can go to each day. So what I’ve been trying to look at is this: within the structure that we have in this school, how can we still build some mentorship programs, some chance to connect students to somebody who maybe isn’t necessarily their teacher, but is still an adult they can go to for support conversations. So when somebody is in crisis or somebody is starting to experience that, there are more people to notice and connect them to the supports they might need.”

Teysi: What would you say is your greatest accomplishment?

Dr. Chapman: “That’s a tough one. Here’s a weird one. When I did my doctoral program to get my doctorate, while I was enrolled in that program, I planned a wedding, built a house (not by myself but I picked all the stuff to build the house,) and had two kids. I finished my doctorate online on time, and I was never late with an assignment!”

Teysi : Who or what motivates you?

Dr. Chapman: “I get motivated by kids. I love when I can have a conversation with a kid about what their dreams and their goals are, or things they’re thinking about for the future. If I can take all of my experiences that I’ve had and all of the information I know to actually help them figure out a plan, and give them access to the experiences they need to make that a reality for them, that gets me very excited.”

Teysi: How do you balance your school life with your family life?

Dr. Chapman: “One of things that is helpful for me is that I have two little kids. They’re 3 and 4, so whenever I can bring them to an event at this school, I do! My husband is very helpful with chasing them around and following them, so they came out to the football games and they came out to the Unified Under the Lights game. I brought them to some meetings we have in the evening as well. So if there’s a chance that they can be here, I like to do that, but other than that, I do a lot of work while they’re asleep.”

Teysi: What is the hardest decision you have had to make here at Osbourn so far? 

Dr. Chapman: “How to utilize my staff, because I’m coming in, not having worked at this school before, being told ‘Here are the people you have.’  Many were picked out by another person, and I am trying to identify the needs we have. I am also trying to figure out how to shift around the resources I have since I am not able to build the plan from the bottom.”

Teysi: What is your approach to student discipline?

Dr. Chapman: “I like to be proactive with discipline on the front end. I like to make sure everybody is educated about expectations and also about why those expectations were set and how they are going to support them in the future. I like to make sure that if we have set an expectation we are consistent with it, and we hold everybody accountable for it. I try to work with my administrative team to make sure that if anyone is struggling to meet our expectations, we are meeting with them. We need to first try to determine why they failed to meet those expectations. Is there a different support they need from us? Or if it was just a poor choice, we should give them a second chance to recover, try again, and assign the appropriate consequence to go with it depending on the behavior.”