During Black History Month, AFSA is posting profiles of some of our outstanding Black school leaders.

Former Assistant Principal Patricia Gil has been inspired all her life by Mark Twain’s saying, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” She has lived by those words from the moment she joined the U.S.

Straight out of high school, Tom Carty enlisted in the U.S. Army. Today, the long-time principal of P.S/I.S. 49, a highly successful school in Middle Village, Queens, Tom laughs and says, “I guess I wasn’t very focused.”

The opening of San Francisco’s Alice Fong Yu Alternative School (AFY) in 1995 “was a victory for the whole community,” according to its firebrand founding principal, Liana Szeto—even when the hate calls and letters started coming and eggs were thrown at the door of the dilapidated old brick build

Assistant Principal Aidan Vigil was born and mostly raised in Fairfax, Virginia—except for a few formative years in Honduras, where his father was stationed with the CIA. In high school, Aidan played varsity football and soccer and was deeply inspired by his coaches.

At Wilson Avenue School in Newark, NJ, where Margarita Hernandez-Abeigon has been principal for 18 years, 75% of the students come from Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, and Peru. Several are also from Spain and Portugal, with 25% from Brazil.

San Francisco wasn’t the tech powerhouse it is today when Principal Dina Edwards was growing up there in the 1980s. Her family lived in Oceanview, Merced, Ingleside (OMI), and made a living through hard work. Her mother, Charlotte, was a paraeducator at St.

As a teenager, Principal Sasha Scott of Chula Vista, California, dreamed of being a marine biologist, a dolphin trainer and of living on a boat. A teen athlete who played basketball, softball and volleyball, she benefited from outstanding coaches and discovered she was a born coach herself.

As a teacher of history, government and law at Forest Park High School in Baltimore, Darrin Brozene discovered that “if students connect with you, you can push them to excel.” 

Lizzy Crispin headed the committee that led Leonardo Da Vinci High Schoolto become the first and only Blue Ribbon high school in Buffalo, New York.

Assistant Principal John Nepomuceno of San Francisco’s Balboa High School describes himself as a social justice educator and equity advocate.

The women in Chicago Principal Kia Banks’ life had a profound influence on her younger self. Her formidable mother Cynthia Rayford, her first inspiration, worked as an adult literacy expert and also managed a blended family of five children.

It took James Allrich 15 attempts to be appointed a principal, but in the end, he was named Maryland’s Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and a Washington Post Principal of the Year finalist.

“Who are you?” a 4-year-old boy asked Sedrick Smith when he and his little classmates entered the principal’s office on a recent pre-K tour of Fallstaff Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore. 

There are days when Justin Holbrook, principal of Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore City and a member of the Public School Administrators & Supervisors Association of Baltimore City, AFSA Local 25, misses the classroom, but he deeply cares about inspiring his teachers. <

Donna McGuire, a member of the Council of School Supervisors & Administrators (CSA), AFSA Local 1 in New York City, was named one of 27 2023 National Outstanding Assistant Principals by the the National

“I’m an adventurer,” says Doreen Seaman, assistant principal at P.S. 57 on Staten Island. She brings plenty of enthusiasm to that job and to every other aspect of her life. Her three greatest fun enthusiasms are the New York Mets, travel, and shoes.

Julie Garcia has worked in education for more than 26 years, as a middle school math teacher for 20 of those years. “Technology changed the way my students learned,” Garcia said. “I’ve always been passionate about how technology helped meet the needs of all my students.”

'It gives me great joy to be part of a picture that supports student learning. A brain fuels student learning.'

Since 2001, Monicellia H.

Although PS 55 is located in one of the poorest communities—with one of the highest recorded crime rates in the Bronx—it has an abundance of state-of-the art education assets, such as classrooms equipped with the latest technology, and full-service clinics.

On the desk of Middle School 53’s principal is a row of Superman collectibles. However, teachers, parents and students have come to realize the real Superman sits behind that desk, not on it.

AFSA loves to showcase our members making great achievements. AFSA is honoring a deserving member of our organization, Winston Barrington Johnson, a member of Hartford Principals’ and Supervisors’ Association (HPSA), AFSA Local 22.