Patricia A. Heiselberg,
Fairfax County Public Schools, is the principal of Laurel Ridge Elementary School. Dr. Heiselberg began her career in education in 1968, as a classroom teacher at C.E. Curtis Elementary School in Chester, Va. From 1972 to 1973, she traveled overseas and taught for the Department of Defense Overseas Dependent Schools in Iwakuni, Japan. Dr. Heiselberg returned to the U.S. in 1974, and worked on her master's degree for the next year. From 1975 to 1978, she was a district reading coordinator that traveled to various schools within Hamilton Township, N.J. In 1978, Dr. Heiselberg joined Fairfax County Public Schools as a reading specialist for Wolftrap and Marshall Road Elementary Schools in Vienna, Va. From 1982 to 1984, she was an area resource teacher responsible for over 30 schools in her assigned jurisdiction. In 1984, Dr. Heiselberg became assistant principal of Oak Hill Elementary School in Herndon, Va., and in 1985 she was promoted to principal of Clifton Elementary School in Clifton, Va. She assumed her current position in 1989. Dr. Heiselberg holds a BS degree in elementary education from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., an MS degree in reading from the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Conn., and an EdD degree in educational administration from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.