Greetings Elizabeth Seawell Elementary families! As the principal of this diverse, inclusive learning community I am committed to providing whatever support, care and instruction is necessary to make each student experience a success. My excitement and enthusiasm for continuing to learn and grow from such a richly unique community is overflowing!! The students, families and teachers/staff of Seawell are truly a treasure that I am privileged to serve and join.

I am a product of North Carolina public schools and grew up as a farm girl in Robeson county. 

My twenty-plus years of educational experiences include work as a before and after school care group leader, teacher assistant and substitute teacher while earning my undergraduate degree as a North Carolina Central Univ. Teaching Fellow. I began my teaching career in Chatham County where I taught both fourth and fifth grades, before moving to Durham to teach fifth grade at E.K.Powe Elementary School. In the interim, I also taught Instructional Media at Durham Technical Community College before pursuing graduate studies in School Administration as a Principal Fellow. My graduate degree was earned at UNC Chapel Hill and I then worked as an administrator at Glenwood Elementary School in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district. 

My journey continued as I later worked as a magnet coordinator in Durham before returning to administration as an assistant principal and principal at Efland-Cheeks Global Elementary in Orange County. It is both humbling and exciting to be able to come back to my starting place in so many ways. The Critter Corner, as an ode to my beginnings as a young girl loving life on the farm and being back in Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools, the place where my administrative career began. My heart is humbled at the opportunity to be a part of a learning community that is reflective of the values and beliefs that make up my core. Every learner, every opportunity, every single day!

Mr. Nelson graduated from East Carolina University with a BS in History Education and a BA in History in 2014; then, he began his education career teaching World History, Civics & Economics, and AP Psychology at D.H. Conley High School in Greenville, NC. In 2020, he graduated from the NC Principal Fellows program with his Masters of School Administration from ECU. As a Principal Fellow, he worked as a full-time assistant principal intern at Bethel School, a Pre-K through 8 school in Bethel, NC. Mr. Nelson lived in New Jersey until third grade when his family moved to New Bern, NC. He lived in Greenville, NC since beginning his undergraduate degree at ECU.

“I am so excited to begin working with the teachers, students, and parents of Seawell ES! I am looking forward to soaking up the vast knowledge and expertise of Mrs. Goins, Seawell teachers, the students, and our parents. I am grateful to be selected for this position, and I can’t wait to begin working extremely diligently to assist with the continued growth of an excellent school! I am thrilled to be moving to the area, and I do have a fair amount of experience with Chapel Hill as my wife is a Carolina alumna. I am especially excited to soon be frequenting Mediterranean Deli, Sunrise Biscuits, and Trader Joe’s! My wife and I have been married for two years. We have one dog, Cashew, and one cat, Bud. In my spare time, you can find me reading books, weightlifting, walking and hiking with my wife and dog, playing guitar, and exploring the many unique towns and areas in our great state.”