Principal

Mrs. Tess O'Keefe Lawrence is a lifelong resident of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and brings over 30 years of educational experience to the Gulfport School District. Initially serving as assistant principal at Gulfport High School for five years, she is now in her eighth year as the principal of Bayou View Elementary School (BVE). As the instructional leader of BVE, Mrs. Lawrence focuses on improving curriculum and teaching practices to benefit the youth of the district.

Mrs. Lawrence earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Psychology from The University of South Alabama in 1990 and her Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership from The University of Southern Mississippi in 1997. She also obtained her Specialist in Education degree in Educational Leadership in 2007 from the same institution and has pursued courses towards her Ph.D. in Educational Administration. In 1999, she achieved National Board Certification in Early Adolescence/English Language Arts, renewing it in 2009.

Her contributions include serving as a National Board assessor and the former Director of the Master Teacher Mentoring Project for the Gulf Coast Education Initiative Consortium, where she mentored 82 National Board Teacher Candidates to successful certification. From 2017 to 2019, she was a member of the Mississippi Principals' Advisory Council.

Mrs. Lawrence completed the NISL Executive Development Program in 2018 and is pursuing Distinguished Principal credentialing through NISL. Under her leadership, Bayou View Elementary School was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 2019-2020. She was honored as the Gulfport School District's Administrator of the Year in 2020 and received the Outstanding Administrator award from the Mississippi Association of Colleges and Teacher Education (MACTE). Additionally, she was nominated as one of Gulf Coast Woman's 100 Successful Women to Know in 2022 and 2023.

Mrs. Lawrence is married to Coach Rick Lawrence, a retired Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps who is also active in the Gulfport School District. They have a nine-year-old son who attends Bayou View Elementary School.