Marble Falls Middle School Principal Ashley Bernard is a 2021 Locals Love Us favorite school administrator. Staff photo by Alex Copeland
When Marble Falls Middle School hired a new principal this year, students saw a familiar face in Ashley Bernard, and she wants them to know she’s there for them.
“I just really try to not be holed up in the office,” said the former STEAM director. “Kids are on campus only a certain number of hours, so the more I can be out and talking with kids, the better. I am in the classroom as much as I possibly can be.”
The Picayune Magazine readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners love Bernard’s work at the middle school and selected her as a Locals Love Us favorite school administrator.
Bernard’s commitment to the job includes greeting students in hallways during passing periods, monitoring the bus drop-off, taking her round at lunch duty, and attending games, choir concerts, and theater performances. The list goes on.
The most rewarding moments for Bernard are those that show she’s made a mark on a student.
“Even as an administrator, you can still have those impacts,” she said.
Though it’s her first year leading the campus, Bernard has already made an impact. She helped restructure the master schedule so core curriculum teachers — math, science, language arts, and social studies — are teamed up so each group of four have the same kids.
“It makes a big school feel smaller,” she said. “It helps keep kids from slipping between the cracks.”
The teams allow for teachers to more easily have valuable cross-curricular discussions and become familiar with individual students.
Bernard credits her teachers with the campus’ success.
“That’s probably my biggest brag, even though I didn’t have anything to do with it,” she said. “The teachers this year are awesome. They’re working so hard, and they’re selflessly giving of themselves every day.”
