One of Jamie Ballard’s deepest passions is championing students, especially those navigating physical or learning disabilities, and ensuring that they have every opportunity to thrive.
“The students I have most enjoyed working with are those with specialized needs, the exceptional learners,” Ballard said. “I want to see people included—and to know that it happened not because someone chose to include them, but because they were empowered to choose inclusion for themselves.”
She is embracing that call as the new principal of the Tennessee School for the Blind (TSB) in Nashville, where she hopes to bring that same spirit of intentionality to one of the state’s most specialized educational communities.
“It is such a unique community of learners, teachers and staff,” Ballard said. “It is expansive in its need and its reach, and yet so tailored to the population. I cannot imagine being anywhere else at any other time.”
Ballard’s first step in her career began at Trevecca as a freshman, where she chose a liberal arts path. Studying psychology and education, she found an environment that shaped her academic interests and her approach to leadership.
“What mattered most was learning in a collaborative environment and seeing how professors tried to make students feel heard. It was not a top down approach,” Ballard said. “As a young student, learning that my perspective was valued was paramount to my future in teaching, learning and leading.”
After graduating from Trevecca, Ballard took an unexpected path into the corporate world, starting a job in IT. Teaching others new technological skills provided a valuable foundation that set her up for success later on.
“One of my projects at that time was rolling out gift registry systems, the original touch screens into stores, and training store personnel on how to use them,” Ballard said. “I had to support them over the phone. Little things that we take for granted now were vital to someone’s success in learning.”
After Ballard’s husband, a pastor in the Church of the Nazarene, took a position in Waverly, Tennessee, she began investigating new employment opportunities and took a job as an assistant technology coordinator at a local school. And when they moved to Houston, Texas, her professional journey evolved further. Ballard’s passion for helping students succeed became central to her calling. She began working towards a certification in special education and supporting students who were at risk for not graduating.
“That trajectory took me through classroom teaching, team leading and becoming a department chair. I worked with the district doing neutral facilitation for forming individualized education programs and working with families, the law and the school to help everybody speak the same language,” Ballard said.
She became principal of the Tennessee School for the Blind this past summer, after spending more than two decades in Texas. Most recently, she had served as assistant principal at a school committed to educating a diverse body of students in an early college curriculum.
Her first few months at TSB have been a period of discovery and growth.
“I have been in learner mode since July, I’m learning the language and the culture of the school. I’m encouraging the places that have promise and redirecting areas that may need a fresh wind or a different perspective,” Ballard said.
The school serves students from across the South, representing a wide range of backgrounds and needs. In addition to representing the entire state of Tennessee, students come from as far away as Mississippi. Approximately 40 percent are residential, staying for the week and returning home on Fridays.
There has also been a learning curve in adapting to the unique learning environment that benefits many blind and low-vision students. The use of braille and a tactile environment are chief among them.
“We want students to be able to use print materials. And in order to do that, they have to be translated in braille,” Ballard said. “The challenge is that, for students to have the same 300 page biology textbook as their sighted peers, it can end up being six volumes.”
As she navigates her new role, she has clear and ambitious goals for the school’s standing in education.
“I really want us to be the beacon of best practice, the standard bearer, for all things teaching and learning for individuals with blindness and low vision,” she said. “Ultimately, we want our students to receive high-quality and relevant instruction and confidently transfer those skills into their productive lives beyond our walls.”
Since her college days, Ballard’s career has always gone beyond a typical job and served as a deeper movement towards her passion and calling, one that she knows God has given her. As she reflects on her career, her enthusiasm is unmistakable.
“The Lord planted stuff in all of us,” Ballard said. “He wants us to bloom into his creation, and so if I’m a steward of that as I should be, I cannot help but continue doing what I’m doing right now.”