New school year. New A+ Educators. Let’s go!
A+ Educator Award Recipients: August 2026
A new school year is underway, bringing fresh opportunities for students to learn, grow, and discover what’s possible. Behind every successful school year are the dedicated educators who show up each day ready to inspire, encourage, and make a difference. As classrooms across our communities come back to life, we’re excited to once again celebrate the teachers and school staff who go above and beyond through our A+ Educators program.
Please join us in congratulating our Augusta County Public Schools A+ Educators of the Month for Elementary, Middle, and High School!
Elementary A+ Educator of the Month: Megan Chapman
“Our Elementary Teacher of the month is Ms. Megan Chapman. Ms. Chapman is an outstanding kindergarten educator whose commitment to students, thoughtful instructional practices, and contributions to Augusta County Public Schools make her especially deserving of recognition as the Teacher of the Month.
During a recent classroom visit, Ms. Chapman’s kindergarten classroom was observed to be a warm, welcoming, and inclusive learning community where students are clearly known, valued, and encouraged to grow. She thoughtfully engages students in meaningful, intentionally planned learning experiences while creating authentic opportunities for student voice, curiosity, and ideas to shape learning. Her students are
encouraged to think, share, make connections, and build understanding alongside their peers. The relationships she has cultivated are evident throughout the classroom, creating an environment in which young learners feel safe, supported, and confident to participate, take risks, and grow. Her students know that they are cared for each and every day.
Ms. Chapman’s impact also extends beyond the walls of her own classroom. Through her curriculum work within Augusta County Public Schools, she has shared her knowledge, experience, and instructional expertise to support high-quality teaching and learning across the division. Her willingness to contribute to this important work reflects not only her strength as a classroom educator, but also her commitment to supporting colleagues and improving learning experiences for students throughout Augusta County.
Augusta County Public Schools is fortunate to have educators like Ms. Megan Chapman, who exemplifies the powerful combination of strong instruction, meaningful relationships, collaboration, and genuine care for students.”
Middle School A+ Educator of the Month: Anne Ramsey
“Our Middle School Teacher of the Month is Mrs. Anne Ramsey. Mrs. Ramsey is currently in her third year as an exceptional learner’s teacher at Riverheads Middle School, and she is an exceptional teacher of our Exceptional Learners.
Mrs. Ramsey is an amazing teacher who puts in tremendous amounts of time, energy, and care into developing lessons and enrichment to support her students every single day. She is deeply invested in inclusive practices and finding ways to support her exceptional learners in being part of the greater school community. Anne is a teacher whose compassion, flexibility, and innovative approach have a profound and lasting impact on her students. She has helped create and foster a truly special classroom at RMS that is full of laughter, joy, learning, and love. From adaptive PE, tubing, fishing, Unified Basketball practices, baking, Math, Reading, Science, daily weather, you name it, she works with her students to grow and achieve their potential in every way.
Anne Ramsey makes it a priority to truly know each learner—their strengths, challenges, interests, and needs both in and out of the classroom—creating meaningful connections that help her students feel understood, valued, and confident in who they are and what they can achieve. ACPS is truly lucky to have her and she is so very deserving of the recognition.”
High School A+ Educator of the Month: Kara Irving
“Our High School teacher of the month is Ms. Kara Finnegan-Irving. Kara is a distinguished math educator at Wilson Memorial High School and was previously a Special Education teacher at WMHS. Currently, Ms. Finnegan-Irving teaches Algebra I and her background as a special education teacher shows in the way she responds to a diverse group of learners in her classroom and how she identifies and responds to individual learning needs and strengths. By supporting her students with patience, care and positivity, she goes above and beyond to ensure her students not only do math, but understand the importance of why and how math applies to their lives.
Outside of her classroom, Kara serves Wilson Memorial High School as the Student Strategies chair. Through this work, she helps develop plans for students that need additional support for behavior or academic areas. She coordinates this work with teachers, families, and other support staff to help meet the needs of students beyond her own classroom and department. She has been recognized as a teacher leader outside of her classroom and as a role model for her colleagues in her current role as a math teacher and in her previous role as well. She truly believes her students can achieve and encourages them to take ownership of their own learning. Through her time and dedication, Ms.Finnegan-Irving creates a classroom where all students can learn and grow.
ACPS is fortunate to have a teacher that is so dedicated to her students in and out of the classroom. She sets a positive example for her colleagues and exemplifies the importance of relationships paired with outstanding instruction. We congratulate Ms. Finnegan-Irving, along with Mrs. Anne Ramsey, and Ms. Megan Chapman as the ACPS Teachers of the Month.”
Thank You to All Educators
As the school year gets underway, we look forward to recognizing more of the incredible educators making a difference in our local schools. Their impact reaches far beyond the classroom, helping shape stronger students, families, and communities. We’re proud to celebrate their hard work and dedication through A+ Educators, and we can’t wait to introduce you to this year’s honorees each month!
As part of our program, our team at Lingo Networks is awarding each honoree a $20 gift card to Pizza Luca in downtown Staunton - a small token of appreciation for the tremendous work they do every day.
Every Connection Matters.
If you have questions about your Lingo services, we’d love to talk with you. You can reach us at (540) 712-0300 or by emailing us at getservice@mgwnetworks.com.
