For the last eight years, Mrs. Mallory Ansley has been under the spotlight as the the main dance instructor on campus for the last two years, but that chapter of her life is coming to a close after an email sent to students April 12 announcing her resignation for the 2024-25 school year.
In the email, she explained that the choice was made because her family required more attention.
“Right now, it’s the best decision for my family,” Ansley said. “Just being able to give me that time to focus on my family, and spend time with my 2-year-old son — that was the big reason.”
Ansley began dancing at age 3 and pursued dance in high school, being a member of Rocklin’s dance team and also a peer teacher. After receiving her degree in liberal studies with a psychology concentration from William Jessup, Ansley got her single subject teaching credential. Before working on campus officially, Ansley was a long-term substitute teacher, and that opportunity developed into a career.
Teaching since she was 21, Ansley has filled a variety of positions within her career as a dance teacher, such as teaching Dance I-IV, Dance II Hip Hop, serving as the Hip Hop Club adviser and spending four seasons as the Maroon Dance Team coach.
“I’m very dedicated to what I do,” Ansley said. “It was a challenge of being like, ‘OK, is this the right decision?’ Then, I had to trust myself. There were just a lot of personal things I had to weigh out with my family; it wasn’t an easy choice to make.”
For Carson Nichols, a third-year Dance IV student and dance team captain who also planned to continue her role next year as an intern for the dance program, the announcement came as a shock.
“When I got the email, I was sitting in my car after I had gotten home on Friday. The first thing I did [after I read the email] was call my mom because I was freaked out,” Nichols said. “It felt like I could have the potential to lose everything I had worked for because me and her worked for all of it together. I also was sad because she does such a great job with the program that it’ll be hard to trust who comes next, because they have such high expectations to live up to.”
Administration will start the process to find a new candidate in the coming weeks, with the position being posted on edjoin.org. The position will now be full-time, and expected to teach six sections of dance classes. According to Principal Mr. Scott Collins, the members of the interviewing panel have not been decided yet, but likely will consist of an assistant principal, Mr. Joshua Ansley as VAPA Department Chair and possibly other related staff or administrators.
Collins said Ansley’s resignation in the midst of building the master schedule for next year won’t affect much of that process.
“We’re operating as if we’re going to be able to put together six dance classes and that we will find somebody,” Collins said. “Until that changes, we won’t change the master schedule. We’re going to go off of what has been established, and then once the new teacher gets their footing underneath them, it can evolve over time based on their strengths or what they can bring to the table.”
As Ansley steps away from the classroom, she said she’s excited to dedicate more free time to her son and her hobbies, although she’ll return to campus to assist with choreography for the spring musical next year.
“[My son] is my whole world, and I love being a mom,” Ansley said. “I’m really just excited for this new chapter. This choice frees up some space to explore new things in my life and see who I am not as a teacher. But, I’m sure that this will always be a part of me in some way in the things that I do.”
by ISABELLA TOMASINI
