Callie McElroy Begins Her Teaching Journey at Auburn Elementary
Callie McElroy (LCA Class of 2021) begins her first year teaching at Auburn Elementary School on Aug. 1, 2025.
Callie McElroy – LCA alumna, class of 2021 — is gearing up for another school year to begin. This year, though, she is serving in a different role besides being a student. Callie is entering her first year as a third-grade educator at Auburn Elementary School in the Barrow County School System.
Seventeen students will be in Callie’s inaugural class, and she cannot wait to start the 2025–26 school year with them, stating, “I think a lot of the thing I loved about student teaching was really getting to know the students and form those relationships, so that way they're able to trust you and you're able to teach them well and there's a level of respect there when you get to know them. So I'm really excited about that because I know my teachers, like even back in high school and middle school and elementary school, took the time to get to know me, which made me enjoy their classes as well.” Callie drew on her student teaching background to deepen her knowledge and strengthen her passion for getting to know her students.
““Enjoy the moments you have there. I wrote one time about my yearbook quote, ‘You don’t know you’re in the good ole days until you’ve left them.’ I feel that summarizes a lot of what I’ve experienced at LCA. You don’t really know that you did a good time until you moved on from it. It’s nice looking back, but take each day as it is. Be in the moment. Stay present and be thankful for what you have. It’s really a blessing to be able to go to a private school and to experience a school like LCA.” ”
Becoming an educator is a career that Callie has aspired for most of her life. But that dream was placed on the fast track when she was a Lion. In May 2025, Callie graduated from the University of Georgia (UGA) with a bachelor's and a master’s degree in elementary education and teaching. She achieved both in just 3.5 years in college.
But Callie credits the dual enrollment offerings at Loganville Christian Academy (LCA) as the springboard to her quick accomplishment. By the time she graduated from the Pridelands in 2021, Callie had already earned around 40 hours of college credit. Thus, she entered college as a sophomore. At UGA, she was presented with the Double Dawgs pathway to pursue two degrees simultaneously, and the decision was a no-brainer. She said, “So I figured, well, I've done it all high school, might as well do it now. I just continued on with that. And I wanted to get done quicker so I could get out in the field of education as early as possible." Mission accomplished.
In addition to her academic journey, Callie was involved in extracurricular activities while at LCA. Across her seven years as a Lion, Callie was a part of the varsity volleyball team, yearbook class, prom committee, as well as a member of Beta Club and National Honor Society. Looking back on her LCA days, Alpha Camp her freshman year was a memory Callie has not forgotten.
Along the way, Callie gained a lot from her time attending LCA—from realizing the importance of friends pointing her to Christ to having a sense of community around her. Another lesson she took away is to explore God and His love more intimately. Callie shared, “LCA taught me that my faith and worship is not just a once a week experience. It's something that is outside of church. It's not just a Sunday experience. And that was through chapel and Bible classes. Just getting to be in the Word every day has taught me now that I need to be doing that, too, to grow my relationship as well as just go deeper in the Word and learn more.”
Graduating from UGA and starting her career path are not the only exciting things that transpired in Callie’s life this summer. She was engaged to fellow LCA alum, Clayton Greer, in early June. March 2026 is when the two plan to get married. An interesting fact about Callie is that she just started playing golf with Clayton this past summer. Other hobbies of hers are meeting up with friends at local coffee shops and reading biographies.
At the end of this eventful summer, Callie will head into her classroom at Auburn Elementary School. Aug. 1 will be the official start to fulfilling her longtime goal of being an educator. Over time, Callie desires to pursue a specialist degree in curriculum and instruction in her efforts to continually learn. But, for this first year in particular, Callie expressed she was going to take this first year day-by-day. But, thanks to the influence of a few LCA educators she had, Callie knows exactly what type of teacher she aims to be. Specifically, she mentioned her experiences in Mrs. Kristin Bailey, Mrs. Jennifer Smith, and Mrs. Snell as added motivation to become a teacher in the first place. Callie shared, “They inspired me because they had classrooms that were really student-led and you got to voice your opinion as a student where it didn't feel like you were just being told all this information. It felt like it was more of a conversation that you were having about learning. So I wanted to be able to do that as well.”
