Fort Belvoir Elementary School psychologist wins Fairfax County award

By Andrew SharbelDecember 11, 2009

Fort Belvoir Elementary School psychologist wins Fairfax County award
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- A member of the Fort Belvoir Elementary School staff was recently recognized by Fairfax County Public Schools as tops in her field in the school system.

Peggy Moore was named the FCPS Psychologist of the Year by the school board and has been the school psychologist at Belvoir Elementary School since it opened at its current location on North Post in September 1998 and has been an employee of Fairfax County Public Schools for 21 years.

"I was truly honored to win this award, especially because it was awarded based on the opinions of my peers," Moore said. "It is always an honor when a group of people have looked at you over a period of time and said you have done things that are beneficial to everyone involved."

In addition to spending the majority of her time at FBES, Moore is also the school psychologist for another elementary school along the Route 1 corridor. She currently works out of Bush Hill Elementary School in Alexandria on Wednesdays.

Most of Moore's time is spent assessing children for reasons they may have trouble learning.

"I meet with students individually, but I also work with children who are very bright, but may have trouble fitting in socially," Moore said.

"I mentor children at both schools and I get to build a relationship with them throughout their time at each school.

"The thing I really enjoy is the assessment aspect of my job, because when I assess a student, I can present the results to their parents or teachers and we can find a way to allow each student to reach their full learning potential," Moore said.

She said she has enjoyed the experience of working on a military installation and working with children from military families.

"Coming here, I had very little military experience at all. I joined the Military Child Education Coalition and it has been an invaluable to help me understand the military community," Moore said. "I now understand how families in the military work and I am aware of some of the stresses military families have to endure that normal families may not have to deal with.

"I have gone to every seminar available because they are invaluable to me as a professional in looking for resources that might be helpful for military families," Moore said. "Fort Belvoir does a wonderful job of reaching out to me and FCPS to help us understand military life and it really makes me feel like part of the military community."

Throughout the course of her career, Moore has worked at a number of schools in Northern Virginia. In addition to being at FBES and Bush Hill, she has spent time at Mount Eagle Elementary, Groveton Elementary, Rose Hill Elementary, Mark Twain Middle School, Kings Park Elementary and Edison High School, all Fairfax County schools.