Associates
Dr. Vera J. Blake | Bob Graumann
Dr. Vera J. Blake is a retired principal of Falls Church High School. A graduate of St. Paul's College (B.S.), the University of Virginia (M.Ed) and Vanderbilt University (Ed.D), she served as principal for 12 years at Homes Middle School; both schools are located in Fairfax County, Virginia. She was a contributing author to the book, Transforming Ourselves, Transforming Schools: Middle School Change (NMSA, 2001), co-authored "Middle School Partnerships: The More, the Better" (Principal Magazine, Fall, 1999) and "Addressing Diversity Through Partnerships" (Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, Summer, 1998). Dr. Blake was the 2000 Virginia Middle School Principal of the Year, the 1999 Fairfax County Principal of the Year, and a 2000 Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leader.
Dr. Blake continues to work as a school improvement coach/consultant in a capacity building role in several school districts including: Illinois, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, Virginia, Hawaii, Texas, Dubai, Sharjah, Qatar, Istanbul, and Washington, DC. Her most recent work has been in St. Thomas, St. John, Albany, Washington, DC, Houston, San Antonio, and Istanbul as an on-going consultant. In addition, she was the lead coach for all of the K-12 U.S. Virgin Island Public Schools for several years.
She maintains a professional interest in curriculum supervision and in middle and high school levels of teacher and administrator preparation. Dr. Blake continues to serve as a professional development consultant to ASCD and as a consultant, mentor and coach to numerous school and district leaders, nationally and internationally, to help improve schools and increase student achievement. She is an ASCD cadre member for What Works in Schools (Dr. Robert Marzano) and Differentiated Instruction (Dr. Carol Tomlinson) and she is a NMSA Site-Based Services Cadre member.