For Portsmouth’s superintendent, love for education is a family affair that now includes his sons

PORTSMOUTH — Education is a family affair for Portsmouth Public Schools Superintendent Elie Bracy. His parents were educators along with some of his uncles and cousins, and his brother runs a school division just like him.

Now, the newest additions to the family legacy are his sons: E.B. Bracy, 24, and Evan Bracy, 22.

“It’s definitely deep in our roots,” said E.B. during a recent interview in his father’s office. Though he didn’t initially consider education, imagining a police or military career — and trying his hand at event management — the pull was too strong.

“I guess I couldn’t shy away,” he said. Now he’s starting his second year as a special education preschool teacher at Olive Branch Preschool Center.

For Evan, the path was more straightforward; he’d always wanted to become an educator. This year, he’ll start his role as a special education preschool teacher at Churchland Preschool Center.

Both said they enjoy working with young children.

“They’re most impressionable at this age, and I feel like this is the best time to teach them foundational skills and things about life,” said Evan.

E.B. said he also feels having a male teacher can bring out the best in some students. He remembers performing better academically in the years he had a male teacher.

Having someone in the classroom who students can relate to can also help them enjoy school and make it easier to learn, Evan said.

Elie Bracy said he is proud of his sons, and that they came to the decision completely on their own.

“Now I know how my dad felt when my brother and I went into education,” he said.

Elie Bracy’s path to education was closer to that of his older son. Initially, he wasn’t interested.

“But I got the bug, and it bit me, and I went into it and loved every minute of it.”

He says Portsmouth is full of families of educators working together — mothers and daughters, husbands and wives. The division allows it as long as they do not directly report to each other. He worked alongside his mother, a kindergarten teacher, as an elementary counselor at the start of his education career in North Carolina.

On why they returned to Portsmouth to start their careers, E.B. said it was a “no-brainer.”

“Ain’t no place like home,” he said. “I graduated from this district, so I felt like it was only right to come back and serve the community.”

Though initially Elie Bracy wanted his sons to go to a different division — he worried about them having to deal with the pressure of working in a division led by their father — he eventually realized that Portsmouth schools needed them.

“I need those talents here in Portsmouth,” he said. And their passion and desire to return was a testament to the family environment that Portsmouth has always strived to foster and was exactly what the division has asked of its students for years.

“We need Portsmouth people to come back into the city in order for it to keep growing.”

Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com