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.