At its Jan. 11 meeting, the School Board of the City of Virginia Beach reelected Carolyn T. Rye as chairwoman and Kimberly Melnyk as vice chairwoman.

"I accept with humility the call to continue in my role as School Board Chair. I wish to assure the VBCPS community and citizens at large of my renewed commitment to the challenging work that lies ahead," Rye said. "I'd like to thank my colleagues for reaffirming their confidence in me as we continue our work together to navigate decision making on behalf of students, staff and families in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic. As always, I will strive to model a culture of respect that is welcoming and inclusive."

Carolyn Rye was elected to the School Board in 2014, elected chairwoman in 2020 and reelected in 2021. During her seven-year School Board tenure, she has served on the Audit, Policy Review, Building Utilization and Governance Committees (the latter three as Chair), and the Achievable Dream Academy and Strategic Plan (Compass to 2025) Ad Hoc Committees. 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 math and science teachers (the latter also a renowned high school and college football coach), 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 Kingston Elementary, Lynnhaven Middle, Kemps Landing Magnet and Ocean Lakes High School, and is a two-time PTA president at both the elementary (Cedar Grove, NJ) 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, engaged in community-based education and awareness, and promoted 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 & 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 recently retired and served parallel legal careers as Counsel, United States Navy, Military Sealift Command and Judge Advocate, Unites States Army Reserve. She and Ken are the proud parents of two VBCPS graduates, Dana and Daniel.

Melnyk was elected to the School Board in 2014, elected vice chairwoman in 2019 and reelected to that post in 2021. She has lived in Virginia Beach for 41 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, all of whom attended VBCPS.

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

###

Department of Communications and Community Engagement, [email protected]

Like us on Facebook || Follow us on Twitter || Follow us on Instagram
Visit the Core