My name is Ginny Clay. My husband's name is Joe. We have one pet; a cat named Sparks.  We enjoy vacationing at the beach together. This is my 24th year teaching at Dudley Shoals. Prior to that, I taught first grade for four years in Catawba County and two years in New York. I also taught fourth grade for one year in Hickory City. I am originally from New York (Long Island). After graduating from high school, I moved to Rochester, New York for 12 years. From there, I moved down to North Carolina where I could see lots of sun and less snow! I've been in here since 1995.

I have a 30 year-old daughter, Kayla. She graduated from UNC Greensboro with a master's degree in Social Work and Spanish. She has studied abroad twice (once in Argentina, and then in Uruguay).  She can speak fluent Spanish, and she has her own practice as a clinical psychologist in Greensboro. She got married seven years ago, and now I have a son-in-law named Ben. 

I also have a 24-year old son named Luke. He graduated from South Caldwell High School in June 2016 and then graduated from NC State as a Zoology major and a minor in Spanish. He has studied abroad three times, twice to Peru and got to hike Machu Picchu, and once to the Patagonia mountains of Southern Chile studying animals, their ecosystems and environmental issues. In Summer 2021 he was in the Peruvian rain forest doing research with Tamarin monkeys. Then he went to work at the Gulf Breeze Zoo in Gulf Breeze, Florida as a zookeeper for 6 months. Now he has returned to the rain forest to study the Tamarin monkeys and film two documentaries with the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).

Children have always been my life, and I thank you for allowing me to be a part of your child's life. I am confident that when we work together as a team, your child will experience a fantastic year that will remain a strong foundation for the rest of their lives!