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Join Us in Celebrating the Exemplary Women in Our Community During Women's History Month!


Palmetto Bay is celebrating Women's History Month by shining the spotlight on the exceptional women in our Village. Each week during the month of March, we will acknowledge women who have made a significant contribution to our community and have had a positive impact on the lives of others. Join us in congratulating these amazing women.


This week we're honoring Barbara Leveille-Brown of Dr. Henry E. Perrine Academy of the Arts!

Barbara Leveille-Brown

Principal, Dr. Henry E. Perrine Academy of the Arts

Some people follow their hearts when deciding on a career path. But for Barbara Leveille-Brown, it was her nose that eventually led her to the job she loves.


“My mom wanted me to be a nurse,” Barbara explains. “So I was at Miami-Dade taking nursing classes, and I started working at an ER, and I got my first smell of blood. I didn’t know blood could smell like that and I told myself, I can’t do this. How am I supposed to save someone if I can’t handle that smell? So I had a deep conversation with myself and I changed my major to Education. Once I started teaching, I found I really loved working with children.”


Barbara taught for six years at Miami Heights Elementary School before taking a position as Assistant Principal at West Homestead Elementary, where she worked with migrant children and families with low socioeconomic status. When she later became Assistant Principal at Air Base Elementary School, the experience was dramatically different.


“At Air Base, there was full parental involvement,” Barbara says. “They were always at the school, and I wasn’t used to that. I had a little bit of parental involvement at my other schools, but Air Base took it to the next level. It really opened my eyes about how we’re all under one umbrella as a school system.”


Barbara carried that new mindset with her when she became Principal at Laura C. Saunders Elementary School. “I let the parents know that this was their school and we could all transform it, not just me,” she says. “I told them I was only there for the school season as the principal, but this was their community and their home. We accomplished so much there, and it was all about transforming the school and the lives of the children.”

 

Barbara is now Principal at Dr. Henry E. Perrine Academy of the Arts and has led the school since 2021. “Palmetto Bay is a great place to be,” she says. “We have great schools, and the parents are really involved. We all have the same goals. It’s all about the children and the community and making it better.” She also loves the fact that 27 years after she entered the education field, she’s still working with young children. “Elementary school students are pure and honest and they thrive off energy,” she says. “If you have negative or positive energy, they feel it. They know when you’re sad, they know when you need a hug, and they’re not afraid to give you one.”


Like many educators, Barbara finds it difficult to stop working at the end of the school day. She often works during her vacation time as well because she’s so invested in her students. “When I make a decision, I make it as if I gave birth to all 531 of the kids here,” she says. “And from 8:30 until 6 o’clock—because we do have after-school care—those kids are mine. And sometimes they’re still mine after hours if a child doesn’t have a mother or a father at home and I have to tap into who those children are and make sure my team knows what they need and what they’re lacking.”


While leading an elementary school may be challenging at times, it’s a challenge Barbara gladly embraces. “As educators, we’re here to serve,” she says. “We’re here to better the community and the world. Children grow up and become doctors or lawyers or something that hasn’t even been invented yet, and who do they thank? They thank a teacher who believed in them and inspired them, and that’s what it’s all about.” 

#WomenofPB
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