Teresa Owens

Ms. Owens first came to High Point University as an adjunct instructor for Special Education in 2008. After serving students with disabilities and their families for 34 years as a teacher and an administrator for special education services, Ms. Owens retired from Guilford County Schools in August of 2013 and joined the Stout School of Education as a full-time Clinical Instructor. Ms. Owens earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Special Education from Appalachian State University.

Ms. Owens began her career in Lexington, NC as a teacher of preschool students with disabilities. Ms. Owens was employed by High Point City Schools and Guilford County Schools as a special educator at Ferndale Middle and Northwood Elementary Schools. During the years she worked in the classroom, Ms. Owens was selected as Outstanding Young Educator by the High Point Jaycees, Educator of the Year by the ARC of High Point and Teacher of the Year by Northwood Elementary School.

Ms. Owens moved from the classroom into a supervisory position as a Program Facilitator for Exceptional Children Services and then a Program Administrator for Special Education Services. From 2005 through 2013 Ms. Owens served as the Coordinator for Exceptional Children Services in Guilford County Schools. In this capacity she was responsible for the development and support of short and long-range goals and objectives for the improvement of system wide instruction for students with disabilities. Ms. Owens was also responsible for the compilation and submission of data and reports required for the Continuous Improvement Plan for Guilford County Schools, the Home/Hospital Program as well as serving as the staffing liaison for Exceptional Children Services. She also provided oversight for the provision of services to incarcerated students.

Ms. Owens served as an Ex-officio member of the Exceptional Children’s Parent Advisory Committee, with Guilford County Schools from 2005 – 2013. She served on multiple project teams for the school district including PACE (Personalized Achievement, Curriculum and Environment), School Reform, and BAT (Building Advisory Team) for Haynes-Inman Education Center, CJ Greene Education Center, Herbin-Metz Education Center and the Allen Jay Preparatory Academy.

Ms. Owens has provided consultative services to exceptional children’s departments of school districts and charter school sites in North Carolina. Ms. Owens is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the Teacher Education Division (TED) of CEC and the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE). Ms. Owens currently serves on the Executive Board of North Carolina Council of Administrators of Special Education (NCCASE) as the Treasurer and representative for higher education. Mrs. Owens also serves on the Executive Board of the Piedmont School in High Point. Ms. Owens is a member of Chi Chapter Delta Kappa Gamma education service sorority.
Ms. Owens has been recognized as a “mentor who has made an impact” by the Office of Student Life in 2020 and 2021. Ms. Owens serves as the faculty advisor for Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Student Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).