Three-time Arkansas Tech University graduate Peggy Lawless Walter has been named 2012 elementary school principal of the year by the Arkansas Association of Elementary School Principals.
Walter (photographed, right) is principal at Fairview Elementary School in Fort Smith.
Dr. Richard Abernathy (photographed, left), executive director of Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, announced Walter’s award with her entire school present at an assembly on Tuesday, March 27.
Walter earned a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education from Arkansas Tech in 1980. She returned to her alma mater to obtain a Master of Education degree in 1987 and an Educational Specialist degree in 2006.
Walter’s service to Arkansas Tech has included serving on the Arkansas Tech Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2007-09.
She has served as the principal at Fairview Elementary School since 1996. When Walter earned master school principal certification from the Arkansas State Board of Education in 2010, she was only the 12th person in the seven-year history of the program to earn that certification.
Prior to her tenure at Fairview Elementary, Walter worked in the Fort Smith School District as assistant principal at Woods Elementary School, as assistant principal at Tilles Elementary School and as a Title I reading teacher at Spradling Elementary School.
She began her career in education as a Title I reading teacher at Alma Middle School.
Walter is a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Phi Delta Kappa, National Association of Elementary School Principals, Arkansas Association of Elementary School Principals, Arkansas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Fort Smith Principals Association and Fort Smith Elementary Principals Association.
She and her husband, Steven, have two children: Ashley Walter of Fort Smith and Christopher Walter of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Photo Courtesy of the Fort Smith School District
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