Renee Toole, Davidson Fine Arts Program Coordinator & Dance Department Lead Teacher, has been skillfully trained to be both dancer & teacher. She entered the Augusta Ballet School in pre-ballet at the age of six and continues to study today. In addition to Ron & Zanne Colton, her teachers include Sally Bliss, Melissa Hayden, Robert Barnett, Frederic Franklin, Duncan Noble, and Maria Grandy.

With a keen sense of loyalty to our community and its future generations, Mrs. Toole began teaching at Davidson in 1983  after graduation from Augusta University with a degree in Middle Grade Education. Mrs. Toole also holds Dance Education Certification for Grades K-12 from the University of Georgia, a Master's degree in Educational Leadership from Troy State University, and an Education Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from Augusta University. She is also a certified teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance, an international organization that is the largest, most influential examining body of classical ballet in the world. As Dance Department Lead teacher, Mrs. Toole has been instrumental in the development of the dance curriculum. As DFA's Theatre Marketing instructor & curriculum developer, she introduces students to the challenges of running all aspects of a working theater and the responsibilites of a producer.

In addition to Davidson, Mrs. Toole's teaching experience also includes teaching in the Primary Division of the Augusta Ballet School for ten years, serving as the ballet program for the Augusta West Dance Studio for six years, and currently as an adjunct instructor for the Augusta Ballet company dancers at the Columbia County Ballet School.

Joining the Augusta Ballet Company in 1973, Mrs. Toole danced professionally as a principal until 1994. Her most notable roles have included the title roles of "Giselle" and "Carmen", the Sugarplum Fairy in "The Nutcracker," Jenny Lind/Nightingale in "Hans Christian Andersen", Swanilda in "Coppelia", Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls", and the principal roles of the "Don Quixote Pas de Duex", "Valse Fantasie", "Minkus Pas de Trois", and "Swan Lake, Act II."

As instructor for Advanced Ballet 3, Ballet 4, Ballet 5, & Theatre Marketing,  Mrs. Toole is proud to share the beautiful art of classical dance & the business of theater with her students and to provide a caring training, an exciting challenge and a knowledge and appreciation of the fine arts.