Van Zutphen comes to the school from Fairland Elementary in Burtonsville where she served as a principal intern.

With an English degree from St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia and a special education and elementary education degree from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, van Zutphen brings experience to the job.

"I have a strong early childhood education background," van Zutphen said. "[I have] that strong background and the love and joy working with children."

She moved to Maryland with her husband, Joseph and three now-grown daughters Melina, 29, Simone, 27 and Sarah, 19, from Nova Scotia, when Joseph went on sabbatical to study at Loyola University in Baltimore.

"We loved [Maryland] so much," she said. "We decided to remain."

They now live in Gaithersburg.

Van Zutphen taught at Viers Mill Elementary in Wheaton, Pine Crest Elementary in Silver Spring and at Summit Hall Elementary in Gaithersburg before becoming an assistant principal at Ronald McNair Elementary in Germantown.

She became an educator to support and nurture the development of children and see the growth and progress of her charges, she said.

"The meaning of education for me is to lead to one's potential," van Zutphen said. "But education is only at its best when teachers and parents are living to their potential."

Becoming a principal is a natural development of wanting to teach, she said.

"I wanted to teach in a bigger version of the school," van Zutphen said, "touching all the children in the school."

Teaching won't stop there for the new principal, who intends to continue outreach with the surrounding communities.

"I want a community of learning," van Zutphen said. "I want what I did in the classroom to reach a wider number of people."