Hello Longfellow Giraffes,

My name is Cynthia Arce, and I am the newly appointed principal of Longfellow Spanish Immersion Magnet School. I am looking forward to meeting the students, families, school staff and other members of the Longfellow community very soon.

At this time, I would like to briefly introduce myself and share my background with you. I was born and raised in San Diego, and I graduated from Crawford High School. I attended the University of Hawaii, where I met my Chilean husband. After studying in Spain and then graduating from the University of Hawaii, we moved to Santiago, Chile. I began my career in education as an English teacher in grades 7-12 in the International School "Nido de Aguilas," located in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. The school is a U.S. accredited K-12 International Baccalaureate World School with an English immersion program for students from approximately seventy different countries. Upon completion of a Masters degree in educational leadership, I went on to work as the Dean of Languages (English, Spanish, and French) in Santiago College, a K-12 IB World School with a dual language program. When my family moved to the beautiful Chilean coastal city of Vina del Mar, I was appointed as Head of St. Margaret's British School, another K-12 international school, which offers a dual language program in English and Spanish. At the same time, I was appointed to be a senior examiner of English for the IB Diploma Program, a position I continue to hold today.

After living abroad and working in U.S. accredited international schools for over twenty years, I returned to Hawaii with my family and have worked in public schools as a middle and high school English, ELD and Spanish teacher, a literacy coach, a vice principal of a large urban high school, and as the principal of a K-8 Spanish-English dual language school in Northern California.

I am an experienced educator, having worked in international schools, charter schools, and public schools. Over the years and in each distinct educational setting, I have come to deeply value and believe in the importance of cross-cultural and multilingual education for the children of the 21st century. I am excited about the opportunity to work in San Diego Unified School District serving public school students, and I cannot wait to meet everyone in September to begin the 2009-10 school year! I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer.

Sincerely,


Cynthia Acre
Principal