Q- Where are you from originally? 

A- Born and raised in Virginia Beach.

Q- How long have you been teaching, and how long at LHS? 

A- She has been teaching at Lafayette since 2010.  The first year she was here, it was a part time position and then in 2011 she started teaching at Jamestown High School as well and have been at the two schools ever since.

Q- Where did you go to college?  

A- Old Dominion University.

Q- What subject (s) do you teach? 

A- Advanced Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Honors Orchestra.

Q-Why did you become a teacher? 

A- When she was 16 a girl in her neighborhood asked if she would teach her how to play the violin. She gave her lessons once a week for $2. Mrs. Dart fell in love with teaching very quickly and by the end of that year she had 10 private students from the neighborhood and church.  By the time she graduated from high school she had 18 private students.  Even when she was just 16, she realized that students’ growth is why she teaches.  Mrs. Dart loves taking students from point A to point B.  She loves the feeling when a student makes progress, learns a new technique, a new note, a new piece of music, gets better at something, or even understands something new.  Their lives are enriched and our world is enriched.  As a high school teacher, she love the community her kids get to build with each other.  Some of her close friends are friends she made back in orchestra, and she’s so happy that her students have built friendships with each other that could very well last a lifetime.

Q- What are your hobbies?

A- On the weekends she plays the fiddle in a  country band called The Nashville Nights Band.  They play at venues up and down the East Coast.  Every year around St. Patrick’s day, for the last 14 years, she plays in an Irish band called The Irish Drinking Band.  Over the years she has been in several community orchestra as well.  She’s a member of two string quartets and we play at 2-4 weddings each month. Her quartets are called the Jamestown String Quartet or the Col Vita String Quartet.  Currently, her weekday hobbies include working out at Crossfit 1607 and planning her wedding which is coming up in June.

Q– What is your ideal vacation? 

A- Mrs. Dart loves adventure vacations and have done several hiking, backpacking, and biking vacations.  On the flip-side she also enjoy going to resorts and relaxing at the beach.  Her future dream vacations include Greece, Hawaii, Ireland, Iceland, and the Bahamas.  She is going to Greece for my honeymoon this summer and get to check that one off!

Q- What is your favorite color M&M?

A- ALL of them!!!! She love chocolate!!!