Gaithersburg Elementary School principal dies of cancer

‘‘The staff has rallied around Mrs. Jones. The students have rallied around Mrs. Jones,” Rowe said. ‘‘...She has been in Montgomery County for over 18 years, so she knows thousands of people and has had a tremendous impact.”

‘‘It’s a huge loss, not only for the school but for the entire Gaithersburg community,” said Patti Pates, co-president of the school’s PTA. ‘‘...The school meant so much to her.”

School system counselors and psychologists will be available to provide support to staff and students, according to Talley’s letter.

Jones started her teaching career in North Carolina in 1976, after she earned a master’s in special education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She began her career in the county in 1989 and taught at Seven Locks Elementary School for one year before joining Gaithersburg Elementary, where she served as acting assistant principal from 1990 to 1992. Jones trained as a principal at Damascus Elementary from 1992 to 1993 and spent a year each as acting principal at Twinbrook and Burtonsville elementary schools before coming back to Gaithersburg in 1994.

‘‘Sharon will be missed, plain and simple. She was Gaithersburg Elementary School, and her presence will always be there,” said Talley, who knew Jones for six years. ‘‘She set high expectations for herself and for everybody around her. She wanted all of her students to excel.”