Who is Dever?

Hello, my name is Natalie Dever King, but everyone knows me as Dever. I am married to Chris King (25 years) and we have two children, Kaylee and Cameron. Both graduated from Windsor High School. Cameron is currently employed full-time with VDOT and Kaylee graduated from Ferrum College in 2021 and is currently employed with BonSecours Hospital in Franklin, Virginia. My husband is a firefighter/paramedic with the Department of Defense for 16 years. Before working with the Department of Defense he was employed as firefighter/medic for the City of Hopewell for 10 years. We both enjoy spending time outside working on projects around the house. I love the beach, river, lake … anywhere with water really! I love to read murder mystery books and books on Autism and behaviors (especially any book by Temple Grandin).

I grew up on the James River in Claremont, Virginia, a very small, rural community in Surry County. My passion for teaching began at an early age, as I can remember playing school as a kid and around the age of 13 I started babysitting. However, throughout my K-12 years I struggled academically. I was never the straight A student or the student that could get good grades without studying. Even spending hours studying I still struggled on assessments. I was never sure I would go to college or even go on to earn my educational specialist degree. Thinking back, I realize I learned better with visual representations and the need to highlight and color code important information.

I have been in the field of special education for over 22 years. I started as a teacher assistant while I completed my master’s degree. My first full time special education teaching position was with Hopewell City Public Schools. Through the years Imoved to several divisions but I called Isle Wight County Schools home for 10 years. In 2007 I completed my educational specialist degree from Regent University in Administration and Leadership PreK-12. My goal was to move into leadership positions with the hopes of helping more students with disabilities and their families. I have worked in several school divisions in a variety of administrative positions, currently I am employed by Franklin City Public Schools as the Director of Exceptional Education.