Leadership Team
Lamar School’s Leadership Team works collaboratively to support the school's mission and core values across all areas of the school. The Leadership Team works together to operationalize Lamar School's strategic plan and support each other in their respective administrative roles. The team is led by the Head of School and is comprised of three divisional principals, director of finance and financial aid, director of athletics, director of technology, director of academic counseling, and the director of facilities.
Leigh Ann Ballou has served as Head of Lamar School since 2013. Through her vision and leadership, Lamar School has evolved into one of the most preeminent independent schools in our association.
Ballou serves on the Board of Trustees for the Southern Association of Independent Schools as well as the Athletic and Activities Commission for the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools. She travels the country as the accreditation chair for SAIS teams and has served on numerous SAIS and MAIS accreditation teams throughout the Southeast.
A native of the Meridian area, Ballou attended Lamar School and then Meridian High School, graduating in 1989. She received a bachelors in elementary education at Mississippi State University and later received a Masters of Educational Leadership at MSU-Meridian. She worked as an elementary teacher in Rankin County as well as Lamar Elementary before being named principal at Lamar Elementary School in 2011. With a diverse background in the classroom and in school administration, Ballou’s educational experience spans three decades, two of which have been spent in independent schools.
Ballou is proud to lead Lamar School’s excellent faculty and staff and appreciates being part of a school family that recognizes so much hope and promise in the next generation. She enjoys working around young people daily, watching them grow up in the years they are at Lamar, and welcoming them back for a visit when they come home.
Ballou and her husband, Will, have three children, Mary Webb (’16), Charlie (’18), and George (’24) and are grateful for the many opportunities each has had as a Lamar School student.
With nearly two decades of experience in education, Erin Honeycutt has always been passionate about inspiring a love of learning. A Lamar School alumna, Honeycutt is originally from Meridian but spent much of her childhood living across the country, never attending the same school for more than three years. These diverse educational experiences shaped her unique perspective on teaching and school leadership.
Honeycutt began her career in Meridian Public Schools at Parkview Elementary, where she taught both fourth and first grades. In 2011, she became the first hire of Head of School Leigh Ann Ballou. Since then, she has served Lamar in several key roles—including classroom teacher, technology director, and elementary director of admissions and academics—before stepping into her current role as elementary principal in 2016.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Southern Mississippi, along with a Master’s in Elementary Education and an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from Mississippi State University. In 2009, she was named Teacher of the Year at Parkview Elementary and has continued to lead with innovation—helping to initiate Lamar’s one-to-one Apple Program and develop its S.T.E.M. Labs.
Her husband, Grant Honeycutt, is also a Lamar alumnus and owner of Woodstock Furniture. Together they have three sons: Anderson and Samuel, both current Lamar students, and Charlie, born in 2022.
A teacher at heart, Mrs. Honeycutt’s greatest joy is found in the lower school—helping students discover the excitement of learning and growing. When she’s not immersed in all things elementary, you’ll likely find her on the family farm walking her goats and dog, attempting (with limited success) to grow a garden as lovely as her grandmother’s, or cheering from the sidelines at one of her boys’ ballgames.
A dedicated member of the Lamar community, Mrs. Dye has served in a variety of roles throughout her tenure, including librarian, senior English teacher, and Dean of Faculty. Her leadership has been instrumental in the professional development of faculty and the continued advancement of Lamar’s academic programs.
Mrs. Dye earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi and a Master’s in English from Mississippi State University. She also completed the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Leadership Institute in 2014. She played a key role in curriculum planning and was a driving force behind Lamar’s successful SAIS accreditation visit in 2020.
With a deep commitment to educational excellence, Mrs. Dye is passionate about supporting both students and teachers. She continues to champion the school’s mission of providing a challenging and purposeful college preparatory education in a safe, respectful, Christian environment.
Mrs. Dye and her husband, Brad, are proud parents of two Lamar alumni. Their daughter, Tate (Class of 2015), is an account director with Thinkwell Creative and currently resides in Japan with her husband, Jake, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot. Their son, Dan (Class of 2018), is pursuing a graduate degree in Biology while teaching at the University of Mississippi.