About Brian Butler
Brian is an education consultant who has worked with thousands of schools throughout the United States, Australia, and Canada. A retired principal who also has experience as a physical education teacher, school counselor, and assistant principal, Brian has a deep understanding of school community dynamics and successful models. Under his leadership as principal, Mason Crest Elementary School in Annandale, VA received the first annual DuFour Award in 2016. The honor, named for Professional Learning Communities at Work process's architect Richard DuFour, credits high-performing PLCs that demonstrate exceptional levels of student achievement and is the highest award that a PLC at Work school can earn. While principal of Mount Eagle Elementary in Alexandria, VA (2006–2011), Mount Eagle was recognized as a model PLC at Work school. Brian was named a finalist for Fairfax County Public School Principal of the Year for demonstrating superior leadership qualities and creating an exceptional educational environment. As Assistant Principal of Lemon Road Elementary, Brian, alongside Principal Carolyn Miller, helped lead staff to high levels of collaboration - an approach he shares with parent groups, teachers, school staff, and administrators to encourage teamwork among stakeholders.
A former professional basketball player in the European League, Brian holds a bachelor’s degree in speech communications from The George Washington University. He also has a teacher’s certification in physical education and a master’s degree in school counseling from George Mason University. Brian earned an administrative endorsement from the University of Virginia. He and his wife Kathleen have two daughters Alison and Emily.
My “Why”… It’s hard to put into words how blessed and fortunate I am; this same educator who, as a young boy, had a lot of self-doubt about his academic abilities and who struggled to learn to read fluently. A young boy who, during his primary school years, had the term retention mentioned to his parents by a well-meaning teacher; but his parents basically said, “No, we’ve got this. He won’t be retained.” It’s equally hard to put into words how my paternal grandparents, with only a third and fifth-grade education, made a choice in the 1940s during the height of segregation and Jim Crow laws to encourage my father to go to college. They subsequently lost their right to sharecrop and live on their land because of their decision to give him a chance at breaking a multigenerational cycle of poverty. I am honored to be living their wildest dreams.
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My passion is to assist all educators in obtaining the confidence to ensure that every single child received a gifted experience flows directly from My Why. If I was born in a different family who knows where I would be today. A child’s destination should not be determined because of the family or zip code in which they happen to be born to or live in. It should be because of what “We” do collectively as educators. I know we can do this if we embrace a collective mindset in which we see collaboration as critical to ensuring all students learn at high levels. This is not pie in the sky because I have seen it in my own schools as an administrator, in schools that I have worked with and as well prominent educators such as Joseph Renzulli, Carol Dweck, Carol Tomlinson, Yvette Jackson, Reuven Feuerstein, Eric Jensen and others have the research and evidence to support that all students can learn at high levels
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Thank you for visiting my page. Let me help you start to see that creating a collaborative culture around the right work will lead to enhanced teacher belief and expectations. This educator confidence will lead you to create a school-wide culture that inspires high intellectual performance for every student you serve!