Leadership Team

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.

Mrs. Cruise serves in the Upper School Principal at Lamar School, bringing three decades of experience in MAIS education to her role. Throughout her career, she has established a reputation for her unwavering commitment to academic rigor, student mentorship, and Christian education. Having previously taught at Lamar, she possesses a deep understanding of the school's culture and a strong alignment with its mission.

Mrs. Cruise is a graduate of Parklane Academy. She earned her Associate of Arts from Southwest Mississippi Community College before completing her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at the University of Southern Mississippi. She also holds a Master’s degree in Math Education from William Carey University and an Independent School Administration Certification through MAIS/Delta State University.

The Lamar mission is a personal one for the Cruise family; Mrs. Cruise credits the school with laying the educational foundation that prepared her oldest daughter, Karli (Lamar Class of 2016), for success in earning her pharmacy degree. She and her husband, Russell, have two daughters and are active members of Mars Hill Baptist Church.