Meet Our Team

Meet Our Administrators

Texas Virtual Academy at Hallsville’s (TVAH’s) administration is ready to share their innovation, expertise, and enthusiasm with your family. The leadership is dedicated to empowering our school community.

Kyla Pickrell | Executive Director

My name is Kyla Pickrell and I have been with Stride since 2013. I just completed my 9th year here in Texas with Stride. I am very excited to come home to TVAH where I have spent the majority of my career with Stride. I started as a teacher and have held many roles in our virtual environments such as teacher, lead teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal, and Executive Director before re-joining TVAH as the Sr. Executive Director for the 2022-2023 school year. I am looking forward to using my love for developing leaders, problem-solving, and efficient planning to work as a team to nurture our staff and students. I value a team approach where the strengths of each team member are being used to build a strong unit that serves our students and families. I believe that by setting goals, analyzation of our data, and following through with support we will lead all students to measured growth. I am so excited to have the opportunity to lead an amazing team of innovative thinkers to work towards student growth and achievement as together we grow to record student enrollment this year. I am committed to pouring out all of my passion and knowledge to see each student achieve their best work as we move forward as a team to lead students to their best years yet! The sky is the limit for TVAH.

Andrea Walker | Elementary School Principal Grades 3-5

Ms. Walker joined K12 in 2013. She brings 13 years of experience in teaching and child advocacy experience, leadership, and management in the education and business fields. Ms. Walker has her BA in education and MA in education leadership from West Texas A&M University. Throughout her years in education she has been a mentor, department head, and taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Ms. Walker holds certificates in 4–8 reading, EC–4, and 4–8 generalist and is scheduled to complete her leadership and ESL tests in November.

Rosalyn Petry | Middle School Principal Grades 6-8

Ms. Petry has completed 15 years in education, serving Stride K12 students for the last 8 years where she has served in various roles as an elementary and middle school teacher, as well as lead teacher, assistant principal, and now principal. Prior to her career with Stride K12, she taught 4th grade bilingual students in a local brick-and-mortar school for seven years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a minor in Spanish, then completed her master’s in Christian education. She is passionate about helping teachers grow their students and looks forward to another amazing year at TVAH!

Amanda Burdick | High School Principal Grade 9

Mrs. Burdick is a Texas girl born and raised. She married her high school sweetheart and in the 27 years they have been married they have raised four beautiful daughters, welcomed two handsome sons-in-law, and most recently became Gigi and Pop-pop.

Mrs. Burdick is in her 13th year as an educator with 5 of those being spent at K12/Stride, where she has served as an English II teacher, content captain, and an Assistant Academic Administrator at both TVAH and Stride Career Prep. Educationally, she holds a bachelor’s degree in management studies with a minor in English and a master’s degree in secondary education.

Miranda Frink | High School Principal Grades 10-11

Mrs. Frink is a Texas Tech alumni where she earned both a bachelor’s and master’s and is currently working toward her doctorate. She started her career in education almost ten years ago as a middle school ELA teacher. Since then, she has taught 6–8 ELA and 6–7 social studies. Mrs. Frink has worked at Stride K12 for six years and is excited to begin her 7th in the 2020–2021 school year! She has a six-year-old little girl who keeps her very busy and on her toes. “When I’m not working or parenting, I am running or traveling!” says Mrs. Frink.

Erica Kouros | High School Principal Grade 12

Ms. Kouros has been in education for over 18 years with the last four here at Stride, K12 and is entering her second year with TVAH. Ms. Kouros’ vision is to support collaborative relationships with our families, students, and teachers to create authentic learning experiences. She believes that every student has the ability to meet their maximum potential and is grateful to be a part of a team that works to make that happen each day. Ms. Kouros is proud to serve you Bobcats! Let’s have an amazing school year.

Rosalyn Petry | Elementary School Principal Grades 3-6

Ms. Petry has completed 15 years in education, serving Stride K12 students for the last 8 years where she has served in various roles as an elementary and middle school teacher, as well as lead teacher, assistant principal, and now principal. Prior to her career with Stride K12, she taught 4th grade bilingual students in a local brick-and-mortar school for seven years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a minor in Spanish, then completed her master’s in Christian education. She is passionate about helping teachers grow their students and looks forward to another amazing year at TVAH!

LarKaya Gant | Career & College Prep Principal

This is Ms. Gant’s 16th year in education where she has had the pleasure of educating and serving in Fort Bend ISD, overseas in the United Arab Emirates, and most recently here with our Stride K12 family. She received her bachelor’s degree from St. Thomas University, her Jurist Doctorate from Western Michigan Cooley Law School, and her Master’s in Education Administration from Houston Baptist University. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, travelling to new countries, and watching Netflix. She is excited to continue this journey with our Stride Career Prep TVAH families.