Monica Ortiz-Sanchez — Board Member

Mónica Ortiz -Sanchez served the children of New York City for 25 years after working in the accounting field for 10 years. She earned a B.S in Accounting and a M.S. in Education from Lehman College (CUNY). She received her C.A.S in Educational Administration from New York University and in 2012 earned her doctoral degree at the same institution. She has work for the NYC Department of Education in various capacities. As teacher, Mónica taught at the middle school and high school levels. She was an Assistant Principal for Administration in Queens for 6 years. Monica than became Principal of one of the top 10 most violent school in the Bronx, NY. She was tasked with turning the school around and then phasing it out.

She set out to transform the school with a population of 4,000 students, 200 plus teachers, a cabinet of 10 and supporting staff of over 20. In two years, she was able to turn a failing school to a performing school. In the following three years, Monica facilitated the phase out of the school to a campus with multiple schools. After phasing out the large school, she became the Director of Student Suspension for New York City Department of Education. Monica oversaw the suspension and expulsion process for city schools. Monica was also a member of a task force that supported violent and/or under performing schools. She later accepted the task to work with another under performing school with potential for turnaround. As a Principal, Mónica has been successful in turning around some of the most challenging schools in NYC with an unwavering belief in students’ ability to succeed provided they are given the opportunities and resources to do so. She understands the impact of low socio economics, homelessness, and family hardships have on students.

And with that imperative, she partnered with multiple organizations to bring necessary resources to the school including a dental clinic, social workers and psychologist sessions, mediation and conflict resolutions clinics and myriad of other services. After proudly serving the children of New York for over two decades, Monica retired to due medical reasons. Currently, she is working on her third career as an artist.

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