Excellent Educators is a WAVY-TV 10 initiative to celebrate local teachers who have gone above and beyond for their students and communities during the last academic year. These Excellent Educators were nominated by their school divisions. Congratulations to these educators for all of their hard work and accomplishments!

Name: Ellen Frackelton

Division: Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools

Position: Reading specialist at Laurel Lane Elementary School

What the school division said about this Excellent Educator: Ellen Frackelton was selected as the Wiliamsburg-James City County Public Schools 2023 elementary level and division Teacher of the Year.

She is a National Board-Certified teacher with 15 years of service as an educator in Virginia public schools. As an adjunct faculty member at William and Mary and presenter at regional, state, and national conferences, Frackelton is a respected literacy leader among her peers.

Her passion for data-driven focused collaboration is integral to making a difference for students’ success, impacting instruction, and being a support wherever she is needed. She has a can-do attitude and gladly rolls up her sleeves to help. As s he once said, “The work is hard, but also extremely rewarding. I cannot imagine doing anything else because I am a teacher.” 

WAVY News 10 Chief Meteorologist Jeff Edmondson had a chance to meet with Ellen Frackelton and filed this report:

Learning the three R’s is part of a basic education. The first R, which stands for Reading, is Ellen Frackelton’s specialty at Laurel Lane Elementary School in Williamsburg. As a reading specialist, Ellen does it all. She’ll work with teachers and also will spend time with individual students to help create a concrete foundation on how to read.

“One of the biggest things that they need to understand are the words that we speak are broken up into sounds, and being able to hear those different sounds. Sometimes that can be a struggle for kids to understand,” said Ellen.

Knowing how to read wasn’t easy at first for Ellen.

“I was one of those kids who struggled to learn how to read. So this is very personal to me. I can empathize with kids when they first start and also for families,” said Ellen.

Since then, Ellen has received her Masters degree from William and Mary, all focused towards her literacy instruction. Around the school, Ellen is appreciated.

“Ellen is amazing; if you want to have a love for reading, whether you are an adult or child. She is the person you want on your team. She exudes excitement when it comes to reading, and a passion. She has done such a great job in getting books in the hands of kids. And when you are this young, you want them to have the development of loving reading and learning to love reading,” said Karen Swann, Principal at Laurel Lane Elementary.

And that’s why Ellen Frackelton is one of our Excellent Educators!