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Education -- it's all relative for these families
Most students cringe when they are called to the principal's office at school.
Not Diego Loya. His mom, Sherryl Loya, is his principal.
The two have been together at Farmwell Station Middle School in Ashburn for the past two years, and both say it has been a fun experience.
"It's been good for us to get to know each other better," the principal said. "We've had more mom-and-son bonding time."
At Loudoun County's public schools, students are not taught by their own parent if it can be avoided, but sometimes it does happen. When it does, parents and children find joys -- and occasionally mild embarrassment -- in being paired at schools.
Principal Loya's son, Diego, 14, said it's been great having his mom drive him to and from school and help him keep track of his homework, but he has set some guidelines for their interactions at school.
All hugging must happen in her office out of sight of other students, Loya said, and Diego sometimes tries to hide when his mom comes into the cafeteria during lunch, fearing she might embarrass him in front of his friends.
Emily Griffith, a seventh-grader at Blue Ridge Middle School, has a similar policy with her mom, seventh-grade history teacher Nancy Griffith-Cochran.
"I don't talk to her in the halls," said Emily, 12.
Also, Emily does not allow her mom to call her nicknames like "Emmy" or "Sweetie" in front of her classmates.
Griffith-Cochran has been teaching at Blue Ridge for 11 years, but this year it's been especially fun having Emily in her grade level, she said.
"It's nice to have other teachers come up to me and say, 'You have a nice daughter,'" she said. "I know sometimes it's hard for Emily, but I'm very grateful she's in the building."
Overall, Emily is glad to have her mom so close as well.
"It's nice if I get hurt or don't feel good," she said. "And it's helped me as a student."
At Eagle Ridge Middle School, guidance counselor Loretta Jacoby and her eighth-grade daughter Emily, 13, also have bonded at school.
As Jacoby has moved through the grades from sixth to eighth, counseling her students, her daughter has moved with her.
"There are so many moms who wish they could come to school with their kids, and I get to do that," Jacoby said. "I've gotten to have that view, and I've gotten to see some of the little moments of her experience that most parents don't."
Emily said having her mom at school has several perks, including the fact that she can store her backpack in her mom's office instead of her own locker and she can always get papers signed when needed.
"My friends say it's awesome that my mom is here," she said. "I know a lot of the stuff that goes on, like if we're having an assembly or a fire drill. I've got the inside scoop."
Both Emily and Jacoby agreed they'll miss spending so much time together next year.
Brendan Kammerdeiner, an eighth-grader at Mercer Middle School, said he feels the same way about having his mom, Kim Kammerdeiner, as his physical education teacher.
"I have to watch myself in class and make sure I don't go too far, but it keeps me in line," he said. "When I go to high school, I'll miss her being able to tell me what teachers are thinking and helping me get ready for class."
Kammerdeiner said she enjoys teaching her son, although she feels at times that she is a little too hard on him.
"The last thing I want is for people to think he has it easy," she said.
Since she knows all the students in his grade so well, Kammerdeiner said the one thing she does worry about is which girls her son will end up dating in the future.
"When I come across the ones who are trouble," she said, "I just think, 'He better not date her.'"
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com
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