James Oliver has served his community as an educator for 31 years. A native speaker of Spanish, he began his career as a Spanish teacher and coach. Seeking to use his skills on a wider stage, Mr. Oliver added the position of Community Liaison for Spanish-speaking families to his resume. Since that time he has held the title of Assistant Principal at a traditional high school, and is currently serving as Principal of an alternative high school, in Fairfax County, Virginia.

His five year tenure at Mountain View Alternative High School has been a period of remarkable growth for the school. He has recruited and developed a creative, energetic, and award winning professional staff. The 2007-2008 Teacher of the Year for Fairfax County and the subsequent Washington Post Agnes Meyer Award winner serves as the Department Chair for English for Speakers of Other Languages program. The teacher-led staff development program has garnered praise and been cited in professional magazines. The school’s Mentor Program has become a model for programs at other schools in the county, while the innovative electronic portfolio, a portable transition plan for graduating students, is the prototype for a county wide initiative. In order to meet the unique needs of his diverse student body, Mr. Oliver has led the creation of a comprehensive transition program, "Learning for Transitions," which is geared toward the development of real-world life skills. With these unique support programs and teachers who employ best practices and innovative strategies, many struggling students have experienced success for the first time and student achievement has soared. Mountain View School was recently awarded full accreditation with commendations by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement, full accreditation by the state of Virginia, and has met all the requirements for full accreditation under the No Child Left Behind federal mandate. Under Mr. Oliver’s leadership Mountain View School has become an icon of what alternative education can and should be. In 2008 Jim was the recipient of the People Who Made a Difference in the Centreville/Chantilly communities and was a finalist for the Spillane Educator Leadership Award.