{"id":9,"date":"2013-06-19T10:56:03","date_gmt":"2013-06-19T14:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www-lpa.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/about\/?page_id=9"},"modified":"2026-08-05T22:50:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T02:50:53","slug":"admins","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www-lpa.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/about\/admins\/","title":{"rendered":"Admins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liberty Pines Academy’s
\nAdministrative Team<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

John P. (JP) Swope
\nPrincipal<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n

\n

JP Swope is proud to serve as the Principal of Liberty Pines Academy, a role he has held since January 2026. A graduate of The Florida State University, Mr. Swope earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science Education before completing a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from St. Leo University. He began his teaching career in 2006 in Leon County, where he taught middle school and coached wrestling, track and field, golf, and football. Mr. Swope was also a member of the inaugural staffs at Montford Middle School and Leon County Virtual School, helping establish strong academic programs and positive school cultures. He began his administrative career at Chiles High School in 2012 and spent<\/span> 14 years serving as a high school assistant principal with extensive experience in ESE, student discipline, curriculum, instruction, and facilities management. After relocating to St. Johns County in 2022, he served as Assistant Principal at Pedro Menendez High School before spending three years at Beachside High School.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Swope and his wife of 24 years, Aimee, are the proud parents of three sons: Asa, starting at the University of South Florida in the Fall; Asher, a freshman; and Aiden, an eighth grader. Family is at the center of everything they do, and together they enjoy traveling, exploring new places, and making memories wherever life takes them. Outside of school, JP enjoys playing golf, running, and spending quality time with his family and friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Principal, Mr. Swope believes every child deserves to be known, valued, challenged, and inspired each day. His leadership philosophy is built on strong relationships, high expectations, and a collaborative culture where students, staff, and families work together to ensure every child reaches their full potential. He is honored to lead the Liberty Pines Academy community and remains committed to building on the school’s tradition of excellence while preparing students to become confident learners, compassionate leaders, and responsible citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n

One Pack, One Purpose, One Promise\u2026One Student at a time!<\/span><\/p>\n

Go Wolves!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Gracie Beish
\nAssistant Principal<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Ms. Beish graduated from Youngstown State University with a bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degree in special education (Mild\/Moderate & Moderate\/Severe Disabilities). Additionally, she attended the University of Akron for doctoral work in Curriculum & Instruction with a focus on the correlation between school suspensions and prison rates.<\/span><\/p>\n

After relocating to Florida, Ms. Beish earned a specialist\u2019s degree in K-12 Educational Leadership from Florida Atlantic University. She also holds endorsements in ESE, Autism, PreK Disabilities, English for Speakers of Other Languages, & Reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout her career Ms. Beish has served as a Developmental Therapist (South Florida), Teacher (Ohio & South Woods Elementary), ESE Coordinator (Palm Beach & Broward County), and most recently Assistant Principal at Ocean Palms Elementary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Beish enjoys traveling, spending time with Family, riding her bike to the beach, and spoiling her Yorkipoo.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Beish believes in servant leadership and is looking forward to the 2024-25 school year at LPA.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Beish is the Assistant Principal of grades 6-8 and the behavior classrooms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Katrina Stanton
\nAssistant Principal<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n		\n

With 22 years as a parent and an educator in St. Johns County, Mrs. Stanton is dedicated to the success of SJCSD schools and students. She has had the opportunity to serve in a variety of instructional roles and is very excited to join the LPA community.<\/span><\/p>\n

She earned her Bachelors and Masters in Communicative Disorders from the University of Central Florida and a Masters in Educational Leadership from the American College of Education.<\/span><\/p>\n

She began her educational career as a Speech Language Pathologist in Orange County Public Schools. Her husband\u2019s career brought her to the Jacksonville area where she worked for a short time in Duval County before transferring to St. Johns County. She transitioned into a traditional teaching role as a 1st<\/sup> grade and then Kindergarten teacher. For the last six years she served as an instructional literacy coach in both elementary and secondary settings. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She believes that education is a team sport, no matter what position you play, educators, parents, and students are all vital participants in reaching our mutual goal \u2013 the success of the learners. She believes together we are greater than the sum of our parts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Stanton is the Assistant Principal for grades K-2.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Rebekah Walton
\nAssistant Principal<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n		\n

An educator for 13 years, Rebekah has served as a teacher, reading interventionist, Instructional Coach and currently as Assistant Principal in K-8 settings.\u00a0 She started her education career in Jacksonville, in Duval County, where she was New Educator of the Year.\u00a0 She holds a Master\u2019s in Educational Leadership from St. Thomas University, a Master of Arts in Teaching-Elementary Education from National-Louis University and a Bachelor\u2019s in Business Administration from Columbia College.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In my free time, I enjoy baking, traveling and spending time with family!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am excited and eager to work as a partner in education to ensure your child\u2019s success and\u00a0I look forward each day to building relationships with all our wonderful students, families, teachers, and staff.\u00a0 I look forward to working with you this school year!\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Walton is the Assistant Principal for grades 3-5.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liberty Pines Academy’s Administrative Team John P. (JP) Swope Principal JP Swope is proud to serve as the Principal of Liberty Pines Academy, a role he has held since January 2026. A graduate of The Florida State University, Mr. Swope earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science Education before completing a Master’s Degree in Educational […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":429,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-lpa.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-lpa.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-lpa.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-lpa.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/429"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-lpa.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www-lpa.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211,"href":"https:\/\/www-lpa.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions\/211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-lpa.stjohns.k12.fl.us\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}