Chantilly Welcomes Assistant Principal Amy Parmentier to the Community

Momiji Barlow, Staff Writer

Despite being new to the school, Subschool 4 Assistant Principal Amy Parmentier had already established herself as a friendly face in the Chantilly community when she began her first day on Oct. 23. Previously, she was an assistant principal at Franklin Middle School and a familiar face to many students.

“Parmentier has high school experience as well. She worked at Centreville High School and Westfield High School, so she knows a lot of families and communities that are just like ours at Chantilly,” Subschool 2 Assistant Principal Mike Astudillo said.

Many students were close to Parmentier during her time at Franklin because of how much she cared for their well-being and emotional health.

“I know she is a champion for sticking up for kids and doing what’s best for kids in all situations,” Astudillo said.

Students that have known Parmentier from her previous work experiences admire her for her enthusiasm.

“Mrs. Parmentier is a really kind and loving person,” sophomore Maya Aboul-Hosn said. “I think she’ll bring her positive energy to the Chantilly community.”

Parmentier earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Mary Washington and then attended the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia for her graduate degrees.

“She has a social worker background as well, so she understands the family component and what makes a well-rounded student,” Astudillo said.

Chantilly has one assistant principal for each subschool, except for Subschool 2, which has two assistant principals. Chantilly also has an assistant principal for the Academy, and Director of Student Activities Corey Bowerman and Director of Student Services Robyn Lady are part of the administration team as well.

Although assistant principals play a vital role in decision-making and the day-to-day running of the school, many students are uninformed about their exact roles within the administration.

“First and foremost, we’re here to maintain a safe and secure environment for the kids; that’s our ultimate responsibility. The way that we break down our responsibilities with our nine or 10 administrators is that we have different areas of focus,” Astudillo said. “For example, I supervise the English department. Ms. Parmentier supervises the social studies department. In the future, she’ll be working with Charge Ahead and Impact Aid and some other different logistical things that we do here at the school.”

Parmentier decided to take an administrative role at the high school level because of her expertise and vast experience. The Chantilly community is very excited to welcome a friendly face.

“Having been at Franklin and being a part of the Chantilly pyramid, I knew what an amazing school this was, with outstanding students, great teachers and a really strong administrative team,” Parmentier said. “I was ready to leave middle school and come up to high school, so being able to come over to Chantilly is such an honor. I’m so excited about getting to know and work with the amazing staff and students here.”