Margarita Muņiz has spent 34 years in the Boston Public Schools, 25 of them as the Principal of the Rafael Hernández School, the premier dual language school in Massachusetts.
The Hernandez School is a Pre-K/Grade 8 school where all students learn in both Spanish and English and also participate in Expeditionary Learning. The school was established in the 1970s when community activists petitioned the Boston School Committee to establish a school where Latino students' educational needs could be met. As a demonstration school for Expeditionary Learning, students engage in project-based learning experiences related to a project theme, allowing students to develop a working knowledge of concepts in all subject areas, including the creative arts.
Ms. Muņiz came to America at age eleven without her parents, and throughout college it was her dream to work for the Boston Public Schools and make a difference in the lives of children for whom English was a second language. Under Margarita's leadership, the Hernandez School has been nominated as an Effective Practice School by the BPS for the past six years, received a 2005 Teacher Team of the Year from USA TODAY, and has had a teacher nominated by the Mayor's Office as Boston Teacher of the Year for three out of the last five years.
Ms. Muņiz began her career with the Boston Public Schools in 1972 as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in the Office of Bilingual Education. She served as District Coordinator of Bilingual Education in the Multicultural Office. In 1981 she became Acting Principal of the Hernandez School and became permanent in 1983. She also served as a Cluster Leader for several years.
Ms. Muņiz earned her Masters in Education from Boston State College.
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