Chief of Staff

Dr. Grace Taylor is the chief of staff for Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS). She is an ACPS alumnus and formerly served as principal for three ACPS schools.

As chief of staff, Dr. Taylor will be responsible for the strategic management and operation of the superintendent’s office, oversee the Department of Human Resources and will lead special projects for Superintendent Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt. She will work with the executive staff to support the goals and priorities of ACPS. Dr. Taylor will also collaborate with the superintendent, the senior leadership team and the Alexandria City School Board to further support the Strategic Plan.

Dr. Taylor joins ACPS from Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) where she served as the interim assistant superintendent and executive principal supporting principals and school communities in Region 3; previously, she was the Cluster 5 director for FCPS.

Prior to FCPS, she had returned “home” to Alexandria from out of state and served Alexandria City High School (ACHS) – from which she had graduated when it was known as T.C. Williams High School – as the executive associate principal for special education. Dr. Taylor is the former principal of George Washington Middle School, the Minnie Howard School and John Adams Elementary School. In 2008, while at Minnie Howard, she was recognized as principal of excellence with a “Distinguished Educational Leadership Award” from The Washington Post. Additionally, during this time at ACPS, Dr. Taylor worked as principal on assignment in the superintendent’s office. Previously, she was principal of high schools in Boulder, Colorado, and Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Taylor holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Emory University, a Master of Education and an Educational Specialist degree in educational leadership from Georgia State University. She received her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Virginia Tech.