Welcome to School Year 2018-2019!

Don't forget to join us for orientation August 15th through August 17th at 9:30am and 2:30am. You can access the sessions through the links on your student home page.

Watch this 8 minute video where Philip, a 4th grader at TOPS, shows Mrs. Watt how to unpack supply boxes, set up a learning space, and find important information on the student account home page.

Join the TOPS administration and some of your fellow TOPS families this Friday from 1pm to 3pm at select Barnes and Noble stores across the state. If you see your area below and would like to attend, please use this link to sign up:

https://tops.k12.com/events-calendar

A couple of wonderful parent volunteers have partnered with TOPS Administrators to create closed groups on FaceBook for parents of TOPS students to talk to each other, share tips, and even schedule meet-ups with each other!

TOPS High School Parent Group

TOPS Middle School Parent Group

TOPS Elementary Parent Group

I am a graduate of Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida (BA, English) and Fort Hays State University in Fort Hays, Kansas (Master of Liberal Studies). In addition, I hold a post-graduate certificate in Educational Leadership and principal certification from Lamar University. I am currently pursuing his Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership. As an educator, I have taught in more than 40 educational institutions, ranging from pre-kindergartens to adult learning centers. Formerly, I was Visiting Professor of English at Kyungpook National University in Daegu, South Korea. As an educational leader, I have owned and operated my own after-school learning program, served as Principal and Assistant Principal on various campuses, and have worked as an educational consultant and curriculum writer. My areas of focus include: design-thinking, collaborative leadership, public policy, and school law. Aside from work, I enjoy reading, playing golf, and spending time with my wife and daughters.

Hello, TOPS Families! I am thrilled to be your principal this year. I graduated from Wayland Baptist University with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and religion. I completed my master’s in educational leadership with Lamar University in 2011. My educational career began at a private school in Fort Worth where I had the opportunity to teach students in PK through 12th grade and eventually served as elementary principal. In 2013, I joined the K12 team as a high school English teacher and later became the ELA department chair. I became the TOPS elementary school principal in September of 2017. My husband and I live in a small town in west Texas with our four awesome boys and two pet prairie dogs. I enjoy completing jigsaw puzzles, binge watching Netflix, cooking, and dreaming on Pinterest.

My name is Mrs. Bass, the music teacher for grades 3-12 at TOPS. I look forward to getting to know each of you!

I was born in Ohio, but have lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since I was in 2nd grade. I attended Texas Christian University (go Frogs!) and earned my bachelor’s degree in Music Education. This is my 6th year teaching music with K12. I spent 7 years before that teaching elementary music in brick and mortar schools. I’m married and have two sweet daughters, Zoey (almost 8) and Lily (4), and a pointer mix named Clementine. In my spare time I enjoy making soap, sewing, reading, writing, listening to music, and getting lots of hugs and snuggles from my girls.

My name is Jamie Buchanan. I graduated from Sam Houston State University. I have my EC-8 Certification. I will be your Art, Health and PE teacher. This is my 5th amazing school year with TOPS. I am very excited to meet you and start the new school year. I enjoy drawing, crafts and family time. I am the mother of a wonderful 10 year old daughter, Emily. She has a very talkative parakeet named Rio. You may hear him from time to time in our CCs.

Welcome to TOPS! My name is Mrs. Ashley Cummings and I am so excited to work with you this year. This is my 4th year with K12 and I am convinced this will be the best year, yet! I will be teaching third grade science and am also acting as your Lead Teacher for elementary.

I am married to a wonderful man named Jeff and we have three beautiful children together. Lillian and Teagan are 3 and Jackson is 1.

We enjoy spending time outside, going to different parks and museums, and playing board games.

Welcome to 3rd grade English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR). I'm so glad you are here. I am Erin Deegan-Smith, and I will be reading and writing with you in Class Connect this school year. I graduated from the University of North Texas, married Aaron Smith, and began teaching in Plano, TX in 1999. I have been teaching 3rd grade ELAR online for 5 years. I have 2 children, Blake (14) and Emma (3). We love to watch movies, hike and be with extended family.

I am a born and raised Texan and have lived most of the time an hour South of Houston. I attended Texas Christian University and earned my bachelor’s degree. I later earned my Master’s degree from Lamar University and am currently attending Abilene Christian University and working on my Doctorate of Education. This is my 4th year teaching with K12 and my 11th year teaching total. I’m married to my wonderful husband, Kevin and have one little boy named Carrson, two dogs, Bonnie and Sandy, and cats named Meow Meow and Baby Kitty. I love to read, run, swim, and play outside with my little boy.

My name is Heather Lipscomb and I am thrilled to be your social studies teacher. I can’t wait to get to know you this year. Here’s a little bit about me… I am a Houstonian, (born and raised). I have a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Houston Clear Lake. My husband, Corey and I have been married for 17 years. We have a 14 year old daughter and an 11 year old son. This is my 3rd year teaching with TOPS. Traveling and reading are my favorite hobbies. TOPS students are the greatest so I know we are going to have a fantastic year! “The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

My name is Kirk McIntosh, Science teacher for 4th and 5th grade, and I am thrilled to be back for another year with fabulous TOPS classes. Many of you worked with me in 3rd and 4th grade Science last year and already know how much fun science can be! I began teaching science several years ago in Arkansas, but my wife and I moved back to central Texas so we could see our grandkids more often. In my free time, I love playing musical instruments, reading, movies, and sports (mainly tennis and basketball). I think that TOPS is a fantastic place for me to teach and for students to learn. I encourage all of you to bring your ideas and imagination to my class so that you can share with your fellow students what is interesting and exciting for you. Let’s make this a year to remember!

My name is Lorie Medina and I am the 4th Grade math teacher. This will be my 12th year with K12 and I have 1 years teaching experience. I graduated from the University of Texas-Pan American with a degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Special Education. On a personal note, I have been married 20 years to my sweet husband, Fernando and we have 3 amazing children: Andrew is 18, Dylan is 13, and Hannah is 12. I enjoy traveling, cheering on our Houston sport teams, and spending time with family.

My name is Jennifer Moore, and I teach 3rd grade math at TOPS. After graduating from the University of Central Florida, I moved back to Lubbock and began my teaching career. This is my 18th year to teach and my 3rd year at K12. I have been married for 24 years to my awesome husband, Neil. We have an amazing 15-year-old son named Ethan, who loves to play the drums, guitar and all sports. We also have 2 dogs (Caicos and Heidi) and a lazy cat (Sparky). Our favorite thing to do is spend time together and scuba dive. We are an adventurous family!

I am so happy to have you in my 5th grade math class this year. This will be my 10th year of teaching and the 3rd year with TOPS. I wanted to be a teacher since I was in elementary school. I’m a Texas girl, born and raised and graduated from TCU. Go Frogs! My family lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Steven and I have been married for 20 years and have 3 girls, ages 9 to 14. When we aren’t cheering them on in band, volleyball or soccer, we like to play games, go to movies and spend time with extended family. This is going to be a great year and I’m looking forward to getting to know you and working with you this year.

Hello everyone! I am Yvonne Walbek and I would like to share a little about me. I was born and raised in western NY and call Canandaigua, NY my hometown. I lived in Pittsburgh, PA for 20 years and moved to the Dallas Fort Worth area three years ago. I love the southern hospitality and that the sun is almost always shining in Texas. I earned my master’s degree from Robert Morris University and am highly qualified to teach Pre-K to 6th grade. This is my 6th year teaching for K12 schools. I have two adult step-children and two darling grandchildren from them. I also have two daughters; Kara is 19 and attending North Lake Community College and Karissa is 16 and attending Keystone Academy (an online K12 school). We have a beagle dog, Hunter, who is 15 years old and a Russian tortoise named Tori. My hobbies include reading, yoga, swimming, bike riding and attending live music performances. I just took up piano lessons too, so I will let you know how that goes this year.