Alumni | Business and IndustryJuly 30, 2024

Longtime Classroom Veteran Moves Easily into Administrative Role

LaDena Nsabimana is pretty sure her years in classrooms in western Arkansas prepared her for the job she has today as associate director of special education at KVC Academy. But the skills she learned pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith also have been useful.

Nsabimana, UAFS class of 2022, spent 10 years as a preschool paraprofessional at Lincoln Childcare and Bost in Fort Smith. From there, she moved into Van Buren public schools and spent eight years as a teacher tech. While doing so, she completed her BSOL degree online. From there, she completed a Master of Arts in Teaching at Henderson State University, also online. With her teaching licensure in hand, she spent two years teaching second to fifth grade students in Van Buren before moving to Fulton, Missouri, where she she works at KVC Academy.

KVC, which has multiple campuses in Missouri, is an alternative learning environment serving children 6-18 years old, Nsabimana said. Some students are referred to KVC through their public schools. In those cases, Nsabimana will observe students in class to see if they are likely to thrive in the therapeutic school.

As assistant director of special education, Nsabimana works with teachers to make sure students’ individualized education programs (IEPs) are being followed and all accommodations are being provided.

It’s not new ground for Nsabimana.

“It’s a different aspect of what I already knew,” she said. “Because I taught for so many years, I kind of know what a teacher wants from an administrator. That’s why they selected me: I’ve been there. I’ve been the teacher’s aide; I’ve been the teacher. When you come to me, I understand what you are talking about.”

Moving from Arkansas to Missouri hasn’t been difficult, Nsabimana said. Going through Henderson’s MAT program taught her to write universal lesson plans.

Her BSOL degree from UAFS helped her to learn to stay organized and provided her with experience with many business practices and analytic tools she uses in her work.

She values the technology education she received at UAFS. She said the education arc is easier for her, so she is glad she has the training in data plans management. 

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