Paula received both her BA in English Education and her MAE from Purdue University. She taught pre-school and middle school English and reading for eight years while in Indiana. After moving to Nashville, Paula taught eighth grade at St. Ann’s in Nashville before coming to McGavock High School in 1983.
During her 32-year tenure at McGavock, she taught reading and English in grades nine, ten, twelve, and Advanced Placement Literature. She was a Student Council sponsor for twenty years. In 1991, she won Teacher of the Year at McGavock, and was named Metro Nashville High School Teacher of the Year. In 2000, she won the Donelson-Hermitage Teacher of the Year. Barkley served as Chair of McGavock’s English Department from 2003-2006. She is a Vanderbilt-trained mentor specialist for student teachers, and has mentored many rising teachers. Barkley has also trained teachers in Gateway English and College Board Pacesetter English and Textual Power on behalf of the district.
In January 2007, she assumed the position of Site Coach for small learning communities at McGavock High School; this position evolved to the Academy Coach position. Paula was named the 2012 Academies of Nashville Academy Coach of the Year and the 2012 National Career Academies Coalition (NCAC) Educator of the Year. She retired from MNPS in 2014; today she continues to work part-time as a consultant to several districts, an Implementation Coach for Ford Next Generation Learning, and a Professional Learning Provider through the Ford NGL-Nashville Hub.
