Cheronda Farrish is switching out red-and-black garments from James Madison High School in favor of yellow, the color at Cedar Lane School in Vienna.
Farrish, who had been assistant principal at Madison High, on Aug. 1 succeeded longtime principal Thomas Lundy at Cedar Lane, which this fall will serve about 80 high-school students.
Farrish has worked in special education throughout her career, and said Cedar Lane was a good match for her skill set.
“This is the top of the mountain for me,” she said. “It really is my life’s work . . . I truly am an advocate of students and I think every student can – no matter the severity of their disability, the color of their skin or their socio-economic status – achieve greatness.”
Cedar Lane School serves special-needs students from 15 area high schools and 15 middle schools. Cedar Lane’s team looks at the students’ profiles and works with the youths and their families to determine their individual needs and how to proceed, she said.
Some of the students eventually will return to a base school, but others will decide they prefer to attend a smaller school like Cedar Lane, Farrish said.
School days at Cedar Lane use the same bell schedule and identical expectations of student rights and responsibilities as regular schools, but the school offers more clinical support and greater flexibility in addressing students’ needs, she said.
The school has about 65 staff members, including 21 teachers. Cedar Lane provides a more intimate and manageable learning environment than at standard high schools and makes it easier to forge relationships, Farrish said.
“I truly feel like some kids struggle with so much chaos around them,” she said. “If you are in a classroom and you have the ability to really focus and not have to transition in hallways with 2,000 students, it really makes them a little more at peace.”
Farrish said she is pressing the school system to offer an honors-level course in economics and personal finance at Cedar Lane. She also would like the school to provide after-school activities, including E-sports (competitive video gaming).
“We want our kids to get off that bus every day and want to be here,” she said.
Farrish grew up in Capitol Heights, Md., where her relatives still reside. She credits her mother with insisting she and her five siblings participated in arts activities. Her father, who repairs heating-and-cooling systems, taught vocational classes in the District of Columbia.
Farrish earned a bachelor’s degree in theater arts from Frostburg University, a master’s in special education (kindergarten through 12th grade) from George Washington University and a doctorate in education and leadership from Drexel University.
She began her educational career at The Foundation Schools High School in Largo, where she was an instructional assistant in a program serving children and teens with emotional and learning challenges.
Farrish joined Fairfax County Public Schools in 2009 as an instructional assistant and later served as a special education teacher at Olde Creek Elementary School in Fairfax. She later taught special-education students at Columbia Elementary in Annandale and Marshall Road Elementary in Vienna.
While teaching at the elementary level, Farrish was a cooperating teacher at George Washington University, partnering with the university supervisor to support interns pursuing master’s degrees in special education.
In 2016, Farrish became chairman of the special-education department of Madison, and a year later was promoted to become an assistant principal.
Farrish greatly expanded support and services for students in the comprehensive-services program at Madison High and maintained high levels of student engagement and attendance, wrote Douglas Tyson, the county school system’s assistant superintendent for Region 1, in announcing Farrish’s principalship.
Farrish “is an advocate for enhanced inclusion for students with special needs,” Tyson wrote. “With Dr. Farrish’s guidance and leadership, special-education students at James Madison have increasingly accessed honors and AP coursework, resulting in more than 64 percent of special-education students graduating with an advanced-studies diploma.”
Farrish also has served as a summer-school principal. Students who needed to attend summer school for graduation achieved perfect pass and graduation rates under her leadership, Tyson wrote.
Andrea Jones, who chairs Madison’s special-education department, said Farrish has an innovative approach to student support, plus a “fearless willingness to explore new methods.”
Farrish “encourages our personalities and life experiences to come through our lessons in order be authentic to our students,” Jones said.
Elise Fasick, an assistant principal at Madison, said Cedar Lane is the perfect school setting to culminate Farrish’s life experience, education, work, exploration and advocacy.
“Cheronda has been a pleasure to work with and is the ultimate team player,” Fascia said. “Her energy, sense of humor and let’s-get-down-to-business-and-move-things-forward attitude make her the ideal principal of Cedar Lane. Her impact will be felt through laughter and a sense of accomplishment.”
Farrish’s husband is retired from the military. The couple’s sons, ages 9 and 11, play basketball on an AAU team, and Farrish enjoys traveling with the team to Puerto Rico occasionally for games.
Farrish said she has learned the value of being patient and listening to students’ views.
“They’ll meet you at some point,” she said. “They’ll get there. But watching them go through the process is really key . . . They all have different backgrounds and perspectives. I respect that and I respect their beliefs.”
She is big on building strong relationships and setting high expectations.
“My bar – for academics, behavior, everything – is very, very high,” she said. “I always let them know, ‘I know you can do it.’”
