Meet Our Team

Kim

Owner/Executive Director

Owner and Executive Director for Sylvan Learning Centers of Chesapeake and Suffolk, Kim loves to partner with families to help their children reach their academic goals. With over twenty years of experience, she loves to see students inspired and engaged. She knows that the keys to academic success include a love of learning, a strong foundation, and passionate teachers. Kim received her BA in Elementary Education from John Brown University, and being a former second grade teacher, she is devoted to assisting parents with their children’s success. When she’s not at Sylvan, Kim can be found loving on her new granddaughter or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Dodgers!  Kim also loves to travel, especially to Nashville, TN, Houston, TX and Madeira, Portugal to visit family.

Joy

Director

Joy supports both Sylvan of Chesapeake and Sylvan of Suffolk remotely in behind the scenes operations, managing enrollments, overseeing the educational integrity of our programs, and managing ongoing training for our team. A graduate of the University of Missouri, she received a BA in Elementary Education. She has been with this Sylvan team since the fall of 2015, but brings a wealth of Sylvan knowledge as she started her Sylvan career in Florida with the Sylvan of Pensacola. Her favorite part of her job is “helping build up a Sylvan team that supports our families so well, and having them share those joys, successes, and “great news” moments from YOU, our Sylvan families.” She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, cat Dinah, and dog Piper.

After 15 years of teaching in local public school classrooms, Katie joined the Sylvan of Suffolk team as a tutor in the summer of 2019 and transitioned into her role as Director at Sylvan of Chesapeake in September of 2020. Katie loves that, “Sylvan is a risk-free learning space where students can really take the time they need to learn foundational skills.” With a degree in English from Southwestern University and a Masters in Technical Writing from Old Dominion University, Katie manages our student programs and meets with parents to discuss student progress. When she’s not at Sylvan, Katie can be found cooking at home, playing board games, and hanging out with her husband and cats – Momo and Toph.

Bailee supports both Sylvan of Chesapeake and Sylvan of Suffolk remotely, but joined our team in early 2021 when she served as a Director at Sylvan of Suffolk. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education from The University of Mississippi and a Master’s Degree in Higher Education Leadership from The Citadel. A former high school English teacher, Bailee loves the personal one-on-one approach to learning that Sylvan takes. She “feels like Sylvan combines all the inspiring parts of teaching with the flexibility of one-on-one instruction that allows students to achieve educational success.” She lives in Florida with her husband, daughter, and cat.