The story below is from our November/December 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Photo above: Courtesy of Armistead Lemon
The head of school at North Cross School can’t wait to dig deeper into her role in educating students and connecting with the community.
When Armistead Lemon became head of school at North Cross School in the fall of 2022, she proved you can go home again.
Lemon, a Roanoke native, attended the independent school on Colonial Avenue from 9th-12th grades, having transferred from a large public middle school. She describes that time in her life as being “transformative.” “The seminal piece was the culture of strong faculty-student relationships,” she remembers. Her teachers, she says, knew what she was capable of better than she did.
After graduating from the school in 1995, she attended Washington and Lee University before working in public relations in New York. She later decided to pursue her graduate studies at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Despite entering the program thinking she would focus more on research, she discovered her passion for being an educator while teaching freshman English.
From there, a mentor encouraged her to investigate teaching at independent schools as a career path. She eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to work as an English teacher at Harpeth Hall, an all-girls independent school. Throughout her 17 years there, she rose through the ranks, going from teacher to department chair to upper school division director.
“I became interested in education leadership and always wanted to come back to Roanoke and North Cross,” she says. “Head of school was the next thing for me, so when the position was announced I thought ‘This is it.’”
Fortunately for her, the school feels just as much like home now as it did when she was just a humble student. It even turns out one of her former teachers, Ed Dickenson who she had for French, is still on the faculty. The mission of the school hasn’t changed since she was a student either. “The teacher-student relationships are at the core of learning,” she says.
However, the school hasn’t remained static. In fact, it’s grown in terms of the campus with expanded field space and new buildings, as well as the number of students which is now at 590.
She went into her first year as head of the school with a thoughtful approach. “There was a lot of adrenaline in the first year. My goal was to listen and to get to know people. That is not always the easiest thing to do,” she says. “My mantra was ‘people before programs,’ to really get to know the people who make this place special before trying to change or evolve anything.”
One of her favorite highlights of her first year on the job was getting to connect with North Cross alumni. Through those interactions, she observed there’s great affection for the school across the generations.
Now in her second year, she’s looking to develop a bold strategic plan. Ensuring that her faculty can pursue professional development, the expansion of STEM education and maintaining a strong endowment will be three areas of focus for her. “I want North Cross to be around for my children’s children,” she stresses. “It’s so important that this school be strong for the Roanoke Valley.”
Lemon’s two sons, a nine-year-old and seven-year-old, with husband, Calvin Stewart, are now getting the same educational experience she did. “They love it here,” she says.
After being in the job for a year and some months, Lemon feels she made the right move by returning to North Cross. “To be in the Roanoke Valley, the place I love most in the world, and to be able to give back to the school that gave me such a gift of education, is pretty special. I’m excited to be here for as long as I can be,” she says.
The story above is from our November/December 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
