Jackie Snowden recently retired as Assistant Principal from Lafayette Elementary School, the
largest elementary school in the District of Columbia Public School (DCPS) system with almost
800 students. Lafayette is a highly sought after elementary school which provides a special
learning environment with talented, dedicated teachers and other staff members supported by
a very active community body. Lafayette’s mission is to help students reach their full potential
through creative, challenging, and fun learning experiences in a supportive, nurturing
environment. An emphasis on integrating the arts into all subject areas enriches every student’s
learning experience at Lafayette and beyond. Additionally, it has the first DCPS school-wide
Peace and Mindfulness program to support a positive school culture. Jackie retired as
Assistant Principal, however, her 30-year career at Lafayette included teaching grades 2, 3, 5,
and 6, as well as serving as the Arts Integration Coordinator, as Lafayette was at one time the
only DCPS school to be designated as a Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) school.
This was a partnership with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which trained
teachers to use arts integration strategies in the classroom. In this capacity, she also helped to
train teachers and administrators in other DCPS designated Arts Integration schools. As a
teacher, Jackie was nominated for the Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award. She
holds degrees from American University and Cambridge College. She is a very proud native
Washingtonian, and the even more proud mother of three adult children, all of whom are
Lafayette graduates and owners of successful businesses. She has been blissfully
married to her husband, Rene, for 40 years.