Danielle Jones didn’t walk into teaching — she was pulled into it.

In college, she stayed after hours to tutor high schoolers who were bused in for extra support. One-on-one, watching students finally get it, seeing their faces light up — she was hooked. “I feel like I am living in my passion,” she says now, nearly a decade into her career at Haynes.

She almost wasn’t a teacher at all. But that tutoring experience made it undeniable.

What she found at Haynes matched that same energy. The interview alone felt different — welcoming in a way she hadn’t expected. And nine years later, the word she keeps coming back to isn’t “professional” or “innovative”. It’s family.

She knows that sounds like something people say. She has receipts.

When Danielle broke her ankle last year and couldn’t be in the building, her team didn’t just send a card. They called. They visited. They kept her in the loop so she still felt like part of something even from her couch. “I truly felt supported,” she says. Not managed — supported.

Her classroom reflects that same spirit. She co-teaches with two colleagues who, between them, bring over 50 years of combined experience — and three completely different vibes. Danielle is the mom energy: warm, high-expectation, no-nonsense. Miss B is the big auntie — straight-talking and grounding. Mr. Whitehead is the big brother. Together, they fuss, they disagree, they work it out — always coming back to the same place: it’s about the kids.

And those kids? Danielle holds them to the ceiling. Literally. “I’m at the ceiling — you need to meet me up here. I’m not coming down.” She means it with love. And they rise to it.

She’s watched 8th graders become high schoolers who advocate for themselves. She volunteers at the high school just to see it happen. When she sees a former student speak up, push back, find their voice — she knows she had a part in that. For an ELA teacher whose whole lens is about giving students a voice, there’s no better evidence that the work is real.

Haynes, to Danielle, is three words: family-oriented, camaraderie, and inclusivity. Nine years in, she’s still finding new reasons to mean all three.