By George Cassidy Payne
Five local educational leaders and mothers show how care, strategy, and family life intersect to shape Rochester-area schools.
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
— Frederick Douglass
At Flower City School №54, Principal Demitria Lawton-Greggs rolls a small cart through the hallways just after sunrise. She stops in classrooms, checks on teachers, kneels beside a student’s desk. The cart carries supplies, but it also carries a message: leadership happens in motion — in presence, in relationships, in small moments repeated day after day.
“They call me D,” she says with a laugh. “I am a coach. That’s who I am.”
Before the first bell rings, schools are already alive with motion. Principals and charter school executive directors answer emails while packing lunches. Administrators solve problems before their first cup of coffee. The work begins long before students arrive and stretches well beyond the final dismissal.
Somewhere between those early mornings and late evenings, five women leaders move through classrooms, offices, and community spaces, balancing authority and care while guiding the daily life of schools. Much of their work is invisible. Yet its influence reaches far beyond school walls, touching students, teachers, and families alike.
Women make up more than three-quarters of teachers nationwide, but their presence at the highest levels of school leadership remains uneven. Only about three in ten superintendents are women, and although women now hold roughly 57 percent of principal roles nationally, leadership pathways still narrow at the top, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
The pressures behind those numbers are often unseen. Research from the RAND Corporation and the National Education Association shows that women in educational leadership frequently report higher levels of burnout, greater scrutiny of their professional judgment, and persistent disparities in pay and advancement.
Layered onto that is what many scholars call the “Superwoman” myth — an unspoken expectation that women must excel in demanding careers while carrying a disproportionate share of emotional and household labor.
Inside schools across the Rochester area, that tension is familiar. Yet it is also where many leaders are quietly redefining what leadership can look like — blending compassion with structure, ambition with care, and professional responsibility with the rhythms of family life.
Though they work in different buildings and roles, the philosophies guiding these leaders often intersect.
Walking the Line of Leadership and Care
At Flower City School №54, Lawton-Greggs’ rolling cart is both practical and symbolic of how she leads.
Relationships anchor her leadership style. For students, she might be a mother figure, a big sister, or an aunt. For staff, she is coach, mentor, and problem solver.
“People expect you to fix problems quietly, be relatable, be the go-to person,” she says. “You’re always walking that line.”
That line — between authority and empathy — is familiar to many women leaders. Expectations often extend beyond the workday: weekend problem-solving, emotional labor, and constant availability for both students and staff.
Experts sometimes call this “job intrusion,” when professional responsibilities seep into personal time. For leaders who also carry significant family responsibilities, the boundaries blur quickly.
Lawton-Greggs addresses this tension with intentional structure: family time that doubles as reflection, clear expectations for staff and students, and a coaching style that balances flexibility with accountability.
“I give flexibility,” she says. “But the expectation for instruction is non-negotiable. You’re going to get there, and I’m going to help you.”
She is also a mother of two boys, Christian (“P.J.”), 9, and Karrington (“Trolley”), 3. “They are my greatest joy and my biggest reminder of why balance matters,” she says. With the support of her husband, Kenny, she moves between school demands and home life with careful intention — weeknight karate, weekend swim lessons, and family movie nights.
Even on difficult days, she describes returning home as a reset: “When Trolley runs up and says, ‘Mommy, it’s my time,’ everything else fades.”
Demetria
Reimagining the Workday
At Renaissance Academy, Chief Educational Officer Dr. Cait Loury challenges the structures themselves.
“Some of the barriers are the expectations of being a mom and a woman,” she says. “These systems weren’t designed with women like me in mind.”
Instead of accepting those assumptions, Loury rethinks how the workday is organized: earlier meetings, intentional scheduling, and a commitment to protecting family time without compromising leadership.
“I shouldn’t have to regularly choose between long hours and family life,” she says. “So I ask — how can we redesign the day so both are possible?”
Inside Renaissance Academy on Rochester’s west side, hallways echo with dozens of languages. For Loury, education extends far beyond academics.
“It’s about helping students navigate life, build resilience, and imagine futures they haven’t yet seen,” she says.
Her philosophy centers on flexibility and trust. Staff are encouraged to honor family needs while remaining deeply committed to students. “Removing structural barriers allows everyone to thrive,” she says.
Cait
Leading with Purpose and Intentionality
Dr. Shalonda Garfield, District Administrator for the Rochester City School District and founder of Strive for Transformation Leadership Network, leads with what she calls disciplined intentionality.
She organizes her life around what she calls the Five F’s: Faith, Fitness and Health, Family, Finances and Career Stewardship, and Finer Womanhood.
Each morning begins in stillness — prayer, reflection, grounding. Each evening ends the same way: a deliberate release of the day’s weight.
“That quiet time is essential,” she says. “It allows me to show up with clarity and presence.”
Her 11-year-old son, Kiyan, is also part of her professional world, offering ideas and feedback on initiatives and events. “He reminds me how this work is received by young people,” she says.
Garfield extends her philosophy beyond her own household, coaching other women leaders and facilitating wellness retreats.
“Prioritizing yourself is not selfish,” she says. “It is stewardship.”
Shalonda
Building Systems That Care
Dr. Katie Brasley Trepanier, founder of KTB Innovative Solutions LLC and administrator in the Rush-Henrietta Central School District, approaches leadership through systems and human needs.
For her, motherhood is foundational. She intentionally stepped back from a principal role to be present during her daughter’s early years, a decision she describes as alignment rather than sacrifice.
Her framework draws from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: before achievement, stability must exist.
“We cannot stop at academics,” she says. “We have to build systems that allow students to reach their highest potential.”
That includes addressing food insecurity, safety, emotional support, and instructional rigor simultaneously. It also includes caring for educators.
“You have to feed the teachers to feed the students,” she says.
Photo credit: Rob Daniels
Katie
At Crane Elementary, Assistant Principal Qianna Reaves-Campbell grounds her leadership in family and connection.
“My mom is my rock,” she says. “That sense of family shapes how I see every child I serve.”
Her leadership extends across classrooms, summer programs, and early childhood initiatives that introduce young learners to school in accessible, welcoming ways.
“I know these kids,” she says. “That perspective helps me guide them with honesty and care.”
She remains deeply present in the life of her school community, building trust with staff and students alike. “We’re in the business of children,” she says. “Watching them grow is the reward.”
Photo credit: Rob Daniels
Qianna
Together, these five leaders reveal educational leadership as something far deeper than position or title. It is sustained attention, relational labor, and constant recalibration between competing demands.
In their schools, it appears in small but defining gestures: a hallway conversation, a moment of reassurance, a student finally seen.
By late afternoon, buildings quiet. Backpacks are zipped. Teachers gather materials. The bell signals the end of the day.
But leadership continues — in homes, in planning notes, in reflection, in the unseen work that makes the next day possible.
Somewhere tomorrow morning, a cart will roll down a hallway again. A student will be greeted by name. A teacher will feel supported.
And through those ordinary, repeated acts of care and vision, the future of Rochester’s schools continues to take shape — guided by women at the helm.
Photo credit: Rob Daniels
George Cassidy Payne is a journalist, poet, and educator based in Rochester. He writes about education, culture, and social issues, and has contributed to The National Catholic Reporter, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Buffalo News, CITY Magazine, 585 Magazine, Life in the Finger Lakes, and the Syracuse Post-Standard. He is also a suicide prevention counselor and community organizer.