After three years as principal at Fort Lewis Elementary School, Kim Bradshaw has moved on to continue to make an impact at Oak Grove Elementary School.

Bradshaw joins the staff as principal at Oak Grove this school year. No stranger to education, Bradshaw spent two years prior to her work at Fort Lewis as assistant principal at Burlington Elementary School; before that, she taught second and third grades at Cave Spring Elementary. Bradshaw was drawn to Oak Grove’s status as a Title I school with a diverse student population.

“It’s an honor to be working here,” Bradshaw said of Oak Grove. “I’m fascinated by different cultures. That will be a fun part–to learn about other cultures.”

Another one of Bradshaw’s goals for the year (and perhaps the biggest) is to get to know everyone in the Oak Grove Elementary community. She’s looking forward to spending time in the classrooms, she says. She also wants to get a chance to ride all of the bus routes–something she did when she started as principal at Fort Lewis.

She and her family (husband Jim, daughter Kristen and son Jason) live in Southwest Roanoke County so she is familiar with the area, but riding the bus routes will help her to better learn some of the neighborhoods and connecting streets, she says.

Bradshaw and her family have a long connection to Roanoke County–particularly to Roanoke County Public Schools: Kristen and Jason will be attending Cave Spring High School and Penn Forest Elementary school this fall, and husband Jim worked as an administrator at Glenvar Middle School until last year.

“There’s not a school I’ve been in that I wouldn’t put my own kids in,” Bradshaw says.

Her pride in being a part of the Roanoke County school system is as evident as her excitement to begin a new school year.

“[As a teacher] in the classroom you make an impact on students every year, but as an administrator, it grows substantially,” Bradshaw says. “I’ve always wanted to make a positive impact.”

And this year, as in years past, will afford her that chance.

The school year kicks off at Oak Grove Elementary on Monday, Aug. 20 for new student orientations. Back to school events continue in September with Back to School Night on Sept. 11 and Picnic in the Park on Sept. 28.