There’s a new assistant principal at RCHS. With Rockbridge being the first school in which he is an administrator. Looking to bring some balance into the student body, representing last names G-N: Dan Fallen.

Mr. Dan Fallen is originally from Lynchburg, but in June of this year, he moved to Rockbridge County. Fallen worked at Liberty University as a manager of a group home for adults with developmental disabilities. He switched it up and started teaching in 2017. He started as a Special Education teacher, then as a Math teacher at Jefferson Forest High School in Forest, Virginia. 

During his short tenure at the position, he seemed to enjoy being an assistant principal here. “The faculty, staff, and students here have made it easy to come to work and enjoy being here everyday,” Fallen said, describing his time at the school. When asked about what impact he wants to leave on the students he said, “My goal is to act as a positive role model and to make an impact on as many kids as possible.” 

Since he started teaching in 2017, Fallen has gained a lot of experience in the education setting. 

“My prior work experiences have molded who I am as an educator and administrator, and have given me a greater capacity to serve others in an education setting,” said Fallen. 

Along with teaching, Fallen was also a coach of the football and baseball teams at Jefferson Forest High School.

While in the process of switching to teaching, Fallen completed a Master’s Degree in education at Liberty. This is his first opportunity to serve as an assistant principal, and in order to become an administrator, Fallen had to complete the Education Specialist degree in order to be licensed. He also had to complete a required 300 hour internship. 

“There was a massive shortage of substitute teachers,” said Fallen.

Because of this, it was hard for him to get the required hours.

 “There are several routes you can go, in order to be a licensed school administrator, along with the 300 hour internship, there was also lots of coursework filled out,” said Fallen.

When speaking about the internship, Fallen said, “the most difficult part was getting the majority of hours while students were in the building.” 

As this school year gets underway, It would be safe to say that Mr. Fallen is easing into his new role quite well, and he is definitely embracing the culture that Rockbridge has to offer.