Hialeah Miami Lakes Senior High’s new principal is hardly a stranger to the school. Lisa Garcia, newly appointed principal of HML got her start in administration at the school in 2007 as an assistant principal, a position she held until 2013 when she was promoted to principal at Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High School. Her return to HML feels like coming home.
“I was so happy to come back,” said Garcia. “One of the great things about this school is that a large portion of the faculty here are also alumni. Regardless of the administration, that unfortunately in our school system comes and goes, the faculty are the true backbone of a school. They’re committed and I was happy to see that some of the students that graduated while I was assistant principal are back in these halls as teachers.”
Garcia has been a lifelong native of the area, born in Mount Sinai Hospital and raised in Hialeah. She attended Immaculate Conception and Monsignor Pace before earning her bachelor’s degree in Special Education and a specialist certificate in Educational Leadership. She married her high school sweetheart, Alex Garcia, and had her son, Jordan, whom she had planned would attend HML before she was promoted. She began her teaching career as a middle school science teacher at Palm Springs Middle School and then as Positive Behavior Support coach at Carol City High School.
Garcia says that her vision and goal for her time at the school centers on showing people the real HML. The school offers four magnet programs and is expanding its dual enrollment course offerings in partnership with Florida International University. Unlike most dual enrollment programs, at HML faculty is hired and trained specifically to teach dual enrollment courses for college credit so students never have to leave campus. They get the best of both worlds – enjoying high school, and earning credit for their college degree.
“I want our community to see HML for what it is,” said Garcia. “This school has something for every child, regardless of interest or ability. Our students never have to leave campus to accomplish earning their associate’s degree through dual enrollment and advanced placement courses.”
In addition to the school’s achievements and programs already in place, Garcia will lead the school during a period of construction with the addition of a court room for the school’s Legal Studies Magnet. The future court room will stand adjacent to the legal studies classroom and will be used for Model United Nations presentations, We The People, and for teen court, which is where students that have committed small offenses in school are offered an opportunity to present their case with the help of an assigned student representative. This court room and the legal studies magnet has been supported by the partnership between the school and the Hialeah-based law firm, Patino Law Firm.
“The Patino Law Firm has been extremely essential,” said Garcia. “They have created a bridge for us to the City of Hialeah Justice System and have coordinated meetings to allow students watch cases inside real courtrooms.”
As for returning to her home school, Garcia is elated, and one of many to return.
“It’s not very common that people have such an amazing experience at a high school that they keep coming back,” said Garcia of the large amount of alumni turned faculty at her school. “When I returned to HML I found the same great kids, the same great staff, and the same incredible work ethic that existed here before.”