Meet Dr. Karla Hogan: The assistant principal for students with the last name A to EG.

Dr. Karla Hogan was an administrator in a neighboring county for 19 years. She was an English teacher for nine years. Hogan got an internship that the county offered. She’s been to three different schools. This is her first year here. She has a bachelor’s degree in English. She got her teaching license in Michigan. “I moved to Virginia, and I hated Virginia because it was so expensive,” said Hogan. She left and got a master’s degree at Eastern Michigan University. She then decided to give Virginia one more chance, so she returned to Virginia. She went to George Mason University and got another master’s degree. She then completed her doctorate from Virginia Tech after six years of study and writing a dissertation.

“The most challenging part of my job is honestly hoping people understand public education,” Hogan stated. “I want people to see the power that education has. I want students to see how education can offer them a lot of opportunities after high school. It frustrates me when students do not take advantage of it,” she continued.

Dr. Hogan went to an all-girls Catholic high school in Ohio. The whole school had about 600 students. It was a Catholic school, so students went to church every Friday. The school had nuns as teachers. Students had to wear uniforms. “We just worried about education; we did not have anything else to worry about. There were no boys to distract us,” explained Hogan. “The school expected me to graduate high school and go to college.”

Fun fact: there was a celebrity that graduated from Dr. Hogan’s high school: actress Katie Holmes!

The best part of Dr. Hogan’s job is when she sees students do well in school and succeed when the odds are against them. “When people say no, they can’t do it and then achieve it- that is so satisfying to see,” Hogan commented. The least pleasant aspect of her job is when people misinterpret what she does. “When I have meetings with the students or the parents, some parents do not like that. They think that I want to get their students in trouble. I actually want to help their kids succeed,” said Hogan. “I want students to take advantage of being present and accountable for being here. I would like students to see that they are responsible for their education each day.” 

Her mornings start with hall duty. She then catches up on emails and confirms her day’s schedule. “Do I have to do any callbacks? Do I have to check on the teachers? Do I have to go to the classrooms?” 

She also does lunch duty and bus duty. “This is what usually happens each day, but there is not really an average day. You can not plan every day exactly because every day is different,” Hogan explained.

Welcome to Osbourn, Dr. Hogan! We are so happy you are here!