State Board of Education Names Former WCS Teacher Executive Director

Published November 14, 2014

The Tennessee State Board of Education has announced that Sara Heyburn, former Ravenwood High School teacher, will become the board’s executive director upon the retirement of current director Gary Nixon.

Heyburn served as the Assistant Commissioner for Teachers and Leaders at the Tennessee Department of Education since 2011, where she led the state’s efforts related to increasing teacher and leader effectiveness. Prior to that, she served as an education policy adviser for the state and also worked for Vanderbilt University as a policy analyst at the National Center on Performance Initiatives. She began her work in education as a high school English teacher in Jefferson County Schools in Kentucky and Williamson County Schools.

“As I move into this new role, I will continue to ground myself in my experience as a classroom teacher,” Heyburn said. “My time at Ravenwood taught me important lessons about being of service to students that still guides my work today.”

Heyburn will assume the role in early 2015.