Predecessors Move Into New Positions
Rockbridge County Public Schools will enter the 2026-27 school year with sweeping changes to its leadership structure, as three veteran principals move into new division-level administrative roles and three new principals step into their place at the building level.
Effective July 1, Maury River Middle School Principal Vicki Stevens will move to a new division-level position as director of secondary instruction and alternative education, Natural Bridge Elementary School Principal Melanie Hickman will become supervisor of personnel, and Central Elementary School Principal Robin Parker will take on the role of director of elementary instruction.
Stepping into their places, Dr. Daniel Fallen will become principal of Maury River Middle School, Haley Roberts will lead Natural Bridge Elementary, and Kelly Jones will assume the principalship at Central Elementary School.
Superintendent Phillip Thompson announced the moves in letters sent to school families, describing a division responding to growing complexity in state regulations, personnel demands and instructional accountability, and positioning experienced school leaders to address those pressures at a higher level.
The Outgoing Principals: Moving Up In a letter to families, Thompson cited increasing expectations from the General Assembly and the Virginia Department of Education as the driving force behind creating the new position of director of secondary instruction and alternative education that current MRMS Principal Stevens is assuming.
The new director will oversee curriculum, instruction, assessment and accountability at both the middle and high school levels, while also serving as the division’s dedicated point person for alternative education programs — coordinating placement, support, transition planning and alignment with division goals for graduation and career readiness.
Stevens will report to Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Administration Tim Martino.
Hickman, who has led Natural Bridge Elementary for the past three years, is moving to another newly created position in the division’s central office as supervisor of personnel. Thompson described the role as a response to what he called a significantly more complex personnel landscape across Virginia, including increased competition for qualified educators, evolving licensure and endorsement requirements, and heightened attention to employee well-being and workplace culture.
In the new position, Hickman will focus on recruiting and retaining teachers and staff, supporting school administrators on personnel matters, and strengthening employee onboarding, mentoring and professional growth practices. She will report to Chief Business Officer Dr. Jason Kirby.
Parker, who has served as principal of Central Elementary School for 11 years, is stepping into the role of director of elementary instruction, where she will oversee curriculum, instruction and programming across the division’s elementary schools and support principals and teachers in improving student achievement. She will also report to Martino.
Incoming Principals: Moving In
Fallen will take over as principal at Maury River Middle School, where he has served as assistant principal. He is no stranger to the building or to the division; before his current role, he spent three years as an assistant principal at Rockbridge County High School.
Fallen’s academic background is rooted in special education and instructional leadership. He earned a Doctorate of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in special education from Liberty University in 2024, following an education specialist degree in education leadership in 2022 and a Master of Arts in Teaching and Special Education in 2018. His undergraduate degree is a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Roanoke College.
Before entering administration, Fallen taught special education and mathematics in Bedford County Public Schools, where he also coached baseball and football. Earlier in his career, he worked at Liberty University as an academic adviser and graduate academic standing consultant, and he managed group home services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Fallen did not attend the School Board meeting last week at which Thompson announced his appointment, having chosen instead to attend a family event with his daughter, a decision Thompson explicitly encouraged.
Fallen could not be reached for further comments this week. -Roberts will succeed Hickman at Natural Bridge Elementary School after two years as the school’s administrative intern — a tenure that saw her help manage daily operations, assist with discipline, develop and implement schoolwide curriculum and lead professional development.
Before stepping into administration, Roberts spent three years as an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher (ITRT) in Rockbridge County. She also taught as a classroom and Title I reading teacher in Augusta County Public Schools, and as a fourthgrade teacher in Prince George County Public Schools.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from East Carolina University and a Master of Education in Education Leadership and Administration from Radford University.
In an email to The News-Gazette, Roberts described her vision for the school in terms of both instructional quality and equity of opportunity.
“My vision is to cultivate a school environment where exceptional teaching is the heartbeat of every classroom and a student’s starting point never limits their potential,” she said. “In this new role, I look forward to deeply investing in our students, educators, and the Natural Bridge Community.”
-Jones steps into the principal’s office at Central Elementary School having spent the past four years in the building as its assistant principal — meaning she’ll be taking the reins from a colleague she worked alongside daily in Robin Parker.
Jones earned both her Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies with a minor in elementary education and her Master of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education from James Madison University, later returning to JMU for her education leadership endorsement as well.
Her teaching career spans more than a decade and includes time at Natural Bridge Elementary School, Fairfield Elementary School and Long County Public Schools in Georgia, where she worked in grades three through five. She also completed an administrative internship with Rockbridge County Public Schools, supervising remediation and instructional programming at both Maury River Middle School and Rockbridge County High School during the summer months.
In an email to The News-Gazette, Jones said her vision for Central centers on both safety and high expectations, and that even in the abstract of leadership transition, her mind goes first to the daily human moments of school life.
“My vision is to create a safe, positive, and academically stimulating environment where all learners can reach their fullest potential and become lifelong learners,” she said. “I want to foster a school community that is responsive to the needs of students, teachers, families, and the community.”
On what she’s most looking forward to, Jones pointed to the culture she hopes to build and to the everyday texture of elementary school that drew her to the work in the first place.
“I am looking forward to building upon the principles and traditions set forth by Mrs. Parker,” she said. “If I had to pick what I am most excited about, it will always come back to the high-fives in the hallways, the hugs in the cafeteria, and the looks on students’ faces when they feel successful.”
