A Message From Our Principal. . .

Welcome to the greatest Elementary School in the World. I am Rob Graham and I am honored to be the principal of this wonderful school community. Once again, we have met all of the federal benchmarks for NCLB and AYP, and are accredited according to Virginia’s Standards of Learning. McHarg Elementary is a special place because of its terrific kids, terrific staff and terrific community.

McHarg’s Terrific Kids are Terrific. What makes our student population so unique is that each student’s personal makeup is different but their goals and objectives for learning are similar. Yes, we do have students with a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Many have different physical, emotional, social, and academic needs.  But they are all coming to us during the most influential times in their lives and even though they may not admit it, they are looking to us for guidance, support, mentoring, instruction, and most importantly, love. To me, the PK-3 age group is the best age group to work with in public education. One of the best parts of my professional day is meeting and greeting the students as they arrive at school. Their innocence is refreshing and their passion admirable. I can see their enthusiasm, feel their energy and I always welcome their smiles. Whether they are a preschooler or a third grader they enter our school doors with a dedication and commitment that can only make a teacher and parent proud. 

McHarg’s Faculty is Terrific.  They are a very talented, dedicated and caring group of professionals. These qualities alone are all characteristics of an effective teacher; but each teacher here at McHarg is also licensed by the state of Virginia and has met the requirements of a Highly Qualified Educator according to the No Child Left Behind Federal mandate. Additionally, the classified employees are just as strong. Nurse Donna is a certified registered nurse. David Lawson, Kim Irby, Josh Green, Marshall Ellis, Bobbi Montgomery and her staff  have combined for over 120 years of work experience at McHarg. Not only are these staff members exceptional employees, they too are teachers and wonderful role models for our students at McHarg.

McHarg’s Community is Terrific. The support provided by the community is limitless. The PSA is always generous with money, resources, volunteers, instructional ideas, movie nights and much more. Our parents are extremely involved and willing to provide support wherever we need it. Radford University and McHarg have a special partnership where our students and theirs learn from each other. Beans and Rice is involved in the summer school program and operates an after-school tutoring service.  Dr. Bishop and the staff at central office continue to push for renovations to our old facilities.  Hopefully, their efforts will soon be recognized. I could go on and on but would rather just say thank you and keep up the good work.

McHarg Elementary School is special. We have terrific kids, terrific teachers and a terrific community. We understand that there are many challenges and obstacles ahead of us, and we know that we must remain a cohesive school community in order to meet these demands.

 Enjoy your school year!

Sincerely,

Robert F. Graham
Principal