Marcia A. Baldanza,
Alexandria City Public Schools, is the principal of Patrick Henry Elementary School. Dr. Baldanza began her career in education in 1986 as a classroom teacher at A. S. Johnson Elementary School in Irving, Tex. where she taught for eight years. In 1994, she was a classroom teacher at Little River Elementary School in Woodstock, Ga. From 1994 to 1996, Dr. Baldanza became assistant principal of Hickory Hills Elementary School in Marietta, Ga. In 1996, she was principal of Walnut Bend Elementary School in Houston, Tex., where she remained for two years. In 1998, Dr. Baldanza pursued her career in education abroad as the director of the American School of El Salvador in San Salvador, El Salvador. She returned to the United States to assume her present position in 1999. She holds a BS degree in special education from Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., an MEd degree in educational administration from the University of North Texas in Denton, Tex., and an EdD degree in educational policy from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn.