Mrs. Julie Ballard is Tavan's principal and a 25-year veteran teacher. After 13 years of service as a master special education teacher, she was unanimously selected as the assistant principal in the 2014-2015 school year and has been the principal since the 2019-2020 school year. She also taught at NAU in the field of educational assessment. Her classroom experience brings valuable knowledge to all areas of curriculum design, student assessment, classroom management, teacher evaluation, and shared leadership. Mrs. Ballard's commitment to Tavan is evident in her innovative school initiatives, positive attitude in all situations, educational knowledge sharing, and understanding of the needs of a diverse student population. She has implemented school behavior initiatives and reduced student behavior referrals by 75% over two years. As a community member, all four of Mrs. Ballard's children attended Tavan Elementary School. 

Mrs. Ballard received a dual degree in K-12 Special Education and Elementary Education from the University of Northern Arizona in 1993, her Masters in Educational Counseling in 1997 from the University of New Mexico, and most recently her Masters in Educational Leadership with Principal Certification from University of Northern Arizona in 2012.

Our assistant principal, Dr. Gabriela Ramos, has 33 years of experience as an educator. She has been the assistant principal since the 2019-2020 school year. She taught for 10 years in Mexico and taught for 23 years in the Creighton School District. She earned her doctorate in leadership and administration in 2018. She believes that teaching is the most important career in society and is the greatest endeavor to educate children. She was born and raised in Sonora, Mexico and came to the U.S. to teach. Her door is always open!