Every month, the ACS Employee Spotlight recognizes both certified and classified employees for their outstanding contributions to the district. These employees are chosen by the school's administrative team for displaying one of the five Portrait of an ACS Graduate tenants: Communicate Effectively, Collaborate Intentionally, Cultivate Creativity, Be Resilient or Lead with Empathy. Congratulations to the following Arlington Awesome employees!

Arlington Elementary
Sarah Neal
Collaborate Intentionally

Ms. Sarah Neal is the current 3-5 Resource Teacher for AES. Ms. Neal collaborates intentionally with her AES SPED team members and with the grade levels she supports. She is eager to visit and offer suggestions during grade level planning and provide additional time for students that need just a little extra help. Ms. Neal is committed to working together with the 3 through 5 teachers to create the best learning experiences for all the students she services.

Donelson Elementary
Natalie Morgan
Cultivate Creativity

One important and effective teacher at Donelson who exemplifies the Portrait of a Graduate by cultivating creativity is Mrs. Morgan. Mrs. Morgan brings excitement and life to her art class and to all the students she instructs, from preschool to fifth grade. She plans fun and engaging lessons, as students are always excited to attend her class! 

Lastly, Mrs. Morgan intentionally includes Social and Emotional Learning elements in her art lessons. She implements a time called “Creative Community,” where students share out good news, jokes, weekend activities, family information or things important to them. Students show excitement about this time in the lesson and are often eager to share personal information with their friends. 

DES is happy to have Mrs. Morgan and we see her as an integral member of the Donelson family!

Arlington Middle
Joseph Piper
Lead with Empathy

Mr. Piper has served our school as a SPED teacher and case manager for the past year. Since he joined our faculty, he has served our school with great pride, empathy, and leadership. Mr. Piper embodies what it means to lead with empathy toward both our students and faculty at our school. He consistently finds ways to push and challenge students to perform each task with resilience. He is often seen in our school modeling the kindness and empathy we want our students to convey. Mr. Piper is always in the hallway playing music and giving students fist-bumps, celebrating vigorously with them when they show success, and inviting parents to honk their car horns with joy on Fridays and holiday weekends. He truly cares for our students and shows this by how he acts. As Mr. Piper likes to say, “it is better to be seen than viewed.” 

Mr. Piper has also engaged in other opportunities at our school such as serving on our new AMS Family Engagement Committee and as a behavior management trainer at in-service. Mr. Piper and Mrs. Person showed teachers at our in-service meetings various strategies and empathetic methods of correcting and modeling correct behavior for students in the classroom and at school. Teachers like Mr. Piper demonstrate important leadership at our school in their PLCs, teaching roles, and important trainings they manage and deliver. 

We are truly blessed as a school and district to have such outstanding leaders in our school such as Mr. Piper. His actions, energy and empathetic leadership have a positive impact on our students and school culture.

Arlington High
Tim Simpson
Cultivate Creativity

Mr. Simpson does a fantastic job leading our band program. Under his leadership, the band receives top honors every year, and once again, he has assembled another fantastic show this marching season. He instills a love for music and performing in his students, and he truly cares about them. He wants the best for kids, so he pushes them to be better and puts them in the best position to further their music careers if that's what they want to do in life.

Mr. Simpson is committed and driven to keep long-lasting relationships with students, and that's evident in their decision to come back to play year after year and even help with band camp during the summers. He sets his standards high, and it's that kind of dedication that makes the AHS Band program one of the best around.