About Dr. Patricia Garcia

    

Dr. Patricia Garcia was born in the Province of Bocas del Toro, República de Panama. She graduated from the University of Panama with a degree in education. Before arriving in the United States, she worked as a middle and high school teacher in the city of Panama.

Dr. Garcia pursued her master’s degree at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida; an Ed.D. degree in Education Leadership from the University of Sarasota, in Sarasota, Florida; and a Ph.D. degree in Bilingual Education and Teacher Preparation from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Dr. Garcia has had the opportunity to travel and work in the field of education in several states in the United States, Europe, and her native country, Panama. She has been a classroom teacher, building principal, central office administrator, college professor, former school superintendent in Rhode Island and Prince Edward County Public Schools in Virginia. She is also a member of several national organizations. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Latino Schools Superintendents; and she is a member of the National Association of Urban Superintendents.

Dr. Garcia was one of the first minority females to attend the Broad Urban Superintendent Academy in its first cohort in 2002. She was selected as one of 25 candidates nationwide to participate in this rigorous training program for urban superintendents.

While serving as superintendent of schools in Rhode Island, she received the Extraordinary Women’s Award in Education in 2002 and was a member of the Governor’s PK-16 Task Force Initiative for Mathematics and Science Education. She also received the “Professional Who Made a Difference Award” while serving as a Superintendent of Schools in Virginia in 2008.

In 2009, Dr. Garcia made history by becoming the first Hispanic appointed as superintendent of the Hempstead School District in Long Island.