Welcome and congratulations to Alexandra Andrade as she joins the South Huntington family as Assistant Principal at Walt Whitman High School! Ms. Andrade comes to us from the Sewanhaka Central High School District in Floral Park where she’s worked since 2006. While there, she served as Family and Consumer Sciences District Coordinator/Chairperson for the last two years where she was in charge of the program for the district’s five junior and senior high schools. Her responsibilities included curriculum development and teacher evaluations. Before that, she taught Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) and Career and Technical Education (CTE).
Ms. Andrade says she’s very excited to start this next chapter of her career here in South Huntington. “I did my research,” explained Ms. Andrade. “I think the diversity attracted me and the fact that it's something that they celebrate here and that they work so hard to make everybody feel included. You could get a real sense of community and I just want to be a part of it.”
Ms. Andrade received her BA in Family and Consumer Science Education - K-12 from Queens College. She then went on to acquire an MS in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Post Master’s Certification for School Building Leader (SBL) and School District Leader (SDL). She speaks fluent Spanish and has put her ENL teaching skills to use in her previous positions to develop workshops for Spanish-speaking families, establish policies and procedures in multiple languages, and worked with parents and students to reduce the anxieties of pursuing education in a new country.
Here in South Huntington, Ms. Andrade still looks forward to learning more herself and feels there are really good people here to teach her. She is also eager to work with the Spanish-speaking community. “I would love to bridge any gap, get to know the students, and get to know the community. I’m excited to serve the community,” shared Ms. Andrade.
Outside of school, Ms. Andrade is the founder and executive director of a non-profit organization called Raise Your Hands Up High. The group partners with American students in all grades to fundraise and help orphaned children in Colombia, South America. Since 2012, the organization has raised more than $50,000, and Ms. Andrade has traveled to Colombia to support the efforts of two orphanages there.
A mother of two children, Ms. Andrade loves being an educator, wants her new community to know that she works really hard at her relationships, and describes herself as empathetic. “I just believe in being an advocate for kids,” she said. We wish her the best of luck at Walt Whitman High School!