A truly local gal, Mary
Ellen Lloyd literally walked from her childhood home in Shepherdstown to
her classes at Shepherd College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in
psychology with a minor in English. The first decade of her professional career consisted of work in
nonprofit agencies where she focused on a variety of topics such as
victim advocacy, domestic violence education, crisis counseling, and
drug abuse prevention. She also spent five years as a custody evaluator for the West Virginia Family Court System. When the youngest of her four daughters was an infant, Mary Ellen
enrolled in a graduate program at West Virginia University, earning a
Masters of Arts degree in counseling, with an endorsement in school
counseling. As she was already sleep deprived, she figured, “Why not
complete a graduate program?” Mary Ellen had nearly two decades of experience as a school counselor
—working in high school, middle school, and alternative education
settings in both Maryland and West Virginia — before coming to JCS
Central Office in 2013 where she coordinated student support programs in
the Pupil Services Department prior to the creation of SoMo.