At the end of the year, the woman who has led the Alberta School of Performing Arts in its various stages during the last 22 years will leave.

Brenda Parker, who has worked over 36 years in education in both Tuscaloosa city and county schools, will retire as principal at the performing arts school, commonly known as TASPA, in May when classes conclude. Her retirement request was approved during the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education’s regular meeting Tuesday night.

"She has put in a lot of time with this school system," said Marvin Lucas, the board vice chair. "It’s going to be a huge loss."

When reached at her home Tuesday night, Parker told The Tuscaloosa News that she had thought about the next phase of her life for some time.

"It’s been part of our plan for a couple of years now," Parker said.

A Birmingham native, Parker’s first job in education was as a kindergarten teacher at Vance Elementary shortly after graduating from the University of Alabama in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. In 1987, Parker moved to Tuscaloosa City Schools, where she first worked as a teacher at the former Northington Elementary School.

After working a couple of years as an assistant principal at Northington, Parker became principal at the former Alberta Elementary School in 1996, beginning what would be her longest and most significant work. As principal at Alberta, Parker is one of three principals in TCS with tenure; the other two being Verner Elementary’s Beth Curtis and Oakdale Elementary’s Lucille Pruitt.

Superintendent Mike Daria said it's hard to picture the school system without Parker.

"She is a rock of this school system and so many of us, myself included, looked to her for guidance, wisdom, thoughts and ideas because she has such a wealth of experience," Daria said. "She has a record of doing great things for the children that she serves."

Parker is credited with leading the Alberta community through trying times, from the destruction of the school during the 2011 tornado, its years at Tuscaloosa Magnet School and then its transformation as an arts school. After the tornado, Parker and her staff worked to help families affected by the devastation, with teachers going as far as walking through Alberta looking for students.

"There’s a family feeling within the school that the teachers are deeply connected to families," she said. "It was important to us that our little school stay together. It was important to stay together until we could return to normal."

Parker said the tornado may have destroyed the former school building, but it also opened the door for the elementary school to eventually become TASPA.

"I believe the tornado presented an opportunity for our school to come back in a unique way that would better serve the greater community," she said.

Reopening in 2014, the school was the first of its kind in Tuscaloosa to offer an arts-based curriculum from pre-kindergarten students to eighth grade.

"We know the benefits the arts provide, how it enhances their (students’) overall development and their academic development as well," she said.

Through her years in the community, Parker has come to love Alberta and the relationships she has built there.

"I think one of the strengths of the school is the culture of the school," she said. "Alberta is a unique community and it has grown, but it’s a family-based community and the staff and teachers that have been there are phenomenal and are committed to that community."

Parker said she does not know what she will do in retirement, but that education would continue to be a driving force in her life.

"I really have not had time at this point to really develop a plan, but I do know that I fully intend to stay engaged on many levels," she said. "What I know is education, so I anticipate I will be in the educational arena in some way."

Reach Drew Taylor at drew.taylor@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0204.