Tonya Arnold is a Louisville native and a proud product of Jefferson County Public Schools (Seneca High School, Class of ’88, Bruce Middle School, and Prestonia Elementary). She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Elementary Education and an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Administration from the University of Louisville. She is the only child of Paul and Clara Huffman and has been married to her best friend, Brian, for 29 years.
Tonya began her career with JCPS in January 1994 as a substitute teacher. She was hired in September of that same year as a fifth-grade teacher at Rangeland Elementary. She continued her role as a classroom teacher at Rangeland Elementary for 15 years, teaching third, fourth and fifth grades during her time there. When the school had an opportunity to participate in a grant with General-Electric they hired Tonya as a Math-Science Coach, and she worked in that role for 5 years. She then transitioned into the role of Goal Clarity Coach. She spent a total of 22 years at Rangeland Elementary. With the completion of her Education Specialist in Administration, Tonya left Rangeland Elementary to become the assistant principal at Fern Creek Elementary in July 2016.
She was excited to be named the principal at Fern Creek Elementary in December of 2018. “My vision is to carry on the Tiger Pride that has already been created in the Fern Creek Community. We will continue to honor the community’s history and pride, while creating a new story with the integration of the Racial Equity Plan, the Backpack of Success Skills and the purposeful building of our climate and culture. This school has always been a child-centered community of learners, and I want that to continue to be our focus.”
As principal, Tonya says she plans to work with the SBDM, and other stakeholders, to increase student achievement. Using collaborative leadership, she envisions decisions made to facilitate actions that focuses energy of the stakeholders and the school improving student outcomes and fostering everyone’s commitment to that improvement. Through this process there will be an empowerment of staff and an encouragement of all stakeholders to participate with their child’s learning. The school’s resources are going to be allocated to support teaching and the students’ learning. As she says, “At the end of the day, I want it to be obvious that everything we do is about our students.”
