“I’ve always had an invisible classroom,” said new Page Middle School principal Patricia McMahon who used her bedroom wall as a chalkboard as a child. “As far back as I can remember I’ve wanted to teach. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

A native of Glens Falls, New York, McMahon’s affection for the classroom continued through high school where she was involved with drama and music. After graduation, she pursued a degree in special education at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York 

McMahon said she married her childhood sweetheart, Ken, a Navy man whose assignments took the couple to Virginia, Hawaii, Connecticut and then back to Virginia. Ken is now retired from the military and works from the couple’s home in York County.

Along the way, the couple had a daughter and two sons, with the youngest now a college freshman, and McMahon earned a master’s degree in special education from the University of...