At American Leadership Academy Lexington, fourth-grade teacher and team lead Chloe Rumple is making a lasting difference by ensuring every student feels valued, supported, and capable of success. Now in her fourth year of teaching, Ms. Rumple has built her classroom around a simple but powerful promise: Every student, every day. For her, teaching is about more than academic achievement. It is about building relationships, recognizing each child’s potential, and making sure no student feels overlooked.
Ms. Rumple’s passion for education began long before she stepped into her own classroom. Growing up, she was inspired by her grandmother and aunt, two educators whose dedication and love for teaching showed her the difference a teacher can make in a child’s life. However, her own experiences as a student also played a significant role in shaping the educator she would become.
As a fifth grader, she remembers feeling overlooked in the classroom. She wasn’t necessarily struggling enough to receive extra attention, but she wasn’t excelling enough to stand out, either. That experience stayed with her and helped shape her purpose as a teacher.
“I wanted to become the teacher I needed when I was younger,” Ms. Rumple shared. “I never want a child to feel that their worth or potential is determined by a test score, or that they have to be the highest achieving or most challenging student in the room to deserve their teacher’s attention.”
That belief continues to guide her work. She strives to create a classroom where students understand that their worth extends beyond their academic performance and where mistakes are viewed as opportunities to learn rather than limitations on their potential.
Ms. Rumple’s path to teaching began to take shape in high school when she participated in the Teacher Cadet program, an experience that confirmed her desire to pursue education. She went on to earn her degree in Elementary Education from the University of South Carolina in 2023. She later joined American Leadership Academy Lexington, where she teaches all fourth-grade core academic subjects and serves as the fourth-grade team lead.
During the 2025–2026 school year, Ms. Rumple’s students demonstrated the highest academic growth in both English language arts (ELA) and mathematics among fourth-grade classes at ALA Lexington. While the achievement was a proud professional milestone, what mattered most to her was the individual progress behind those results.
She remembers the students who doubted their abilities, those who needed extra encouragement, and those who worked tirelessly to master concepts that seemed to come more easily to their peers. Watching those students grow academically while developing confidence in themselves was especially meaningful.
“By the end of the year, those weren’t just students sitting in my classroom,” she explained. “They were children I had spent months getting to know, worrying about, advocating for, and celebrating.”
For Ms. Rumple, those accomplishments reflect the importance of combining high academic expectations with patience, encouragement, and meaningful relationships. She believes students deserve to be challenged while also knowing they have someone in their corner when learning becomes difficult.
That same commitment extends beyond her own classroom. As fourth-grade team lead, Ms. Rumple works collaboratively with her colleagues to strengthen instruction, support student achievement, and create opportunities for professional growth. She recognizes that effective teaching requires a willingness to learn, reflect, and continuously improve, both individually and as a team.
Although her time with each group of students is limited to a single school year, Ms. Rumple understands that the relationships and experiences children have with their teachers can influence how they view themselves as learners for years to come. She hopes her students leave her classroom not only with stronger academic skills but also with greater confidence, resilience, and a willingness to take on challenges.
Her commitment to education is also deeply connected to her own experiences in charter schools. As a student at Langston Charter Middle School, she learned the importance of academic excellence, character, leadership, and personal responsibility. She later attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) conference at Erskine College.
Years later, she discovered another meaningful connection: Langston Charter Middle School and American Leadership Academy Lexington shared a connection through the Charter Institute at Erskine. For Ms. Rumple, it was a full-circle moment. The values that helped shape her as a student are now the same values she works to instill in her own classroom.
Outside of school, Ms. Rumple enjoys cooking and working at a restaurant where she has the creative freedom to experiment with flavors and develop new dishes. She finds that teaching and cooking share an important similarity: both require creativity, flexibility, and a willingness to try a different approach when something doesn’t work the first time. Whether developing a new recipe or finding a new way to help a student understand a challenging concept, she enjoys the process of creating something meaningful.
Ms. Rumple is also grateful for the educators who have helped shape her journey. She credits her mentor teachers and colleagues for investing their time, patience, and encouragement in her professional growth. Their example continues to inspire the support she strives to extend to both her students and fellow educators.
As she continues her teaching journey, Ms. Rumple remains guided by the experience of the fifth grader she once was and the teacher she needed at that age. Her hope is that every student who enters her classroom leaves knowing they are capable of more than they may have initially believed.
Because sometimes, the most meaningful lesson a teacher can offer is the simple reassurance that a child matters and that someone believes in them.
