Appointment Begins July 1, 2022
The School Board appointed Frances Lee as the new Principal of Ashlawn Elementary School at its April 28 meeting. Lee is currently the assistant principal at Escuela Key Elementary School.

“Ms. Lee is a passionate bilingual educator and has a broad range of experience at multiple levels and is excited to bring her strong leadership skills and passion for education to the Ashlawn community,” said Superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán.

Lee is a bilingual educator with over 20 years of experience at the elementary and high school level. Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and elementary education from Wittenberg University and a master’s degree from George Mason University. She also has endorsements in gifted education and educational leadership and administration from the University of Virginia and The George Washington University.

Lee began her career teaching English as a second language in Ecuador. In 2002, she began teaching at Escuela Key Elementary. During the 10 years she spent at Key, she grew as a teacher and school leader. Lee taught first and second grades and later became the Resource Teacher for the Gifted, providing math and science instruction in Spanish. Lee also taught English as a Second Language at Washington-Liberty High School. In addition, she worked for one year as a Master Educator on the Language Acquisition Team in DC Public Schools conducting teacher observations and evaluations.

Over the past seven years, Lee has served as Assistant Principal of Wakefield High School and Assistant Principal of Escuela Key Elementary. As an Assistant Principal, Lee supervised at the school level a wide range of programs such as Special Education, English language learners and Spanish Immersion.Her appointment begins July 1.

Lee will replace current principal, Breonna Zeballos, who is retiring from the position with APS after this school year ends.