VBCPS - Charting the Course
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Natalie Allen
Date: 01/14/20 Phone: 757.263.1313
News Release No. 019 Fax: 757.263.1010
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Rye elected as School Board chairwoman,
Melnyk re-elected vice chairwoman

At its Jan. 14 meeting, the School Board of the City of Virginia Beach elected Carolyn T. Rye as chairwoman and re-elected Kimberly Melnyk as vice chairwoman.

"This is a tremendous honor beyond words," said Rye.

Carolyn Rye was elected to the School Board in 2014. She began her professional career in the business sector, serving a decade as corporate trainer and group insurance management consultant for Prudential Insurance. The proud daughter of two career high school teachers, Rye ultimately turned to her education roots as a longtime private mathematics tutor and secondary school classroom teacher in local schools. She was also employed by Virginia Beach City Public Schools from 2000-2014 as an intermittent substitute teacher. Rye served on the PTA Boards of Lynnhaven Middle, Kingston Elementary, Kemps Landing Magnet and Ocean Lakes High School, and is a two-time PTA president at both the elementary and high school levels. She is a recipient of the PTA Distinguished Service Award. Rye is an active member of the community, serving two terms on both her St. Nicholas Catholic Church Pastoral Council, and William & Mary's regional alumni chapter board. She is founder and inaugural president of William and Mary's Northern New Jersey Alumni Chapter, and has served the past decade as an adviser to her campus sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma. As a national Fight Colorectal Cancer advocate, she and her daughter, an early age onset colon cancer survivor, collectively have lobbied Congress, engage in community-based education and awareness, and promote annual fundraising. Rye has also served in a fundraising capacity for her college, and past church capital campaign. She graduated from the College of William and Mary as a Government major, with concentrations in history and mathematics. She holds an MBA degree from Silberman College of Business, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, New Jersey. Her husband Kenneth is retired, and served parallel legal careers as Counsel, United States Navy, Military Sealift Command, and Judge Advocate, Unites States Army. She and Ken are the proud parents of two VBCPS graduates.

Melnyk was elected to the School Board in 2014, re-elected in 2018 and elected vice chairwoman in 2019. She has lived in Virginia Beach for 40 years and is a product of VBCPS, having attended Old Donation Elementary School, Brandon Middle School and Green Run High School. She graduated from Longwood University with a Bachelor of Science in Education and taught for VBCPS at Glenwood, Strawbridge and Christopher Farms elementary schools. Melnyk was appointed by City Council to the Vision to Action Community Coalition, serves on the Board of Directors for Virginia Musical Theatre and is a member of the Governor's School for the Arts Regional Board. She is a mentor at Green Run Elementary School, volunteers with the VBCPS Beach Bag Program and is a member of the Social Ministry Team at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. She is a former employee of Premier Millwork and Lumber Company, her family owned and operated business. She and her husband, George, have three children, one of whom still attends VBCPS.

More information about the Virginia Beach School Board, including member bios and contact numbers and emails, can be found at www.vbschools.com.

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Department of Communications and Community Engagement, [email protected]

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