For immediate release pinecrest Academy, Inc announces new principal for Pinecrest Glades

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pinecrest Academy, Inc. announces new principal for Pinecrest Glades

Pinecrest Academy, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Carrie Montano as the new principal of Pinecrest Glades, a K-12 charter school campus, effective July 1, 2016. Located at 15200 SW 8^th Street, Miami, FL, Pinecrest Glades is a brand new state-of-the-art facility that is currently accepting interest forms from students who will be entering Kindergarten through 8^th grade for the 2016-2017 school year.

Pinecrest Glades will offer a tuition-free public charter school with highly-qualified state certified teachers using cutting-edge learning tools. The elementary will provide before and after care and will have strong parent-teacher partnerships. The middle and high school will have college preparatory curriculum in technology-rich classrooms and three academies to select from: Health and Medical Science, Visual and Performing Arts, and Journalism and Broadcasting.

Montano just retired from Miami-Dade County Public School System (MDCPS), the third largest district in the U.S., after 35 years of service. She was most recently the principal of TERRA Environmental Research Institute, where she was awarded 2013 Principal of the Year. She brings extensive experience as an educator including founding principal of two innovative and nationally recognized secondary schools by the Washington Post and U.S. News and World Report. Able to successfully manage schools, personnel, create curriculum, balance budgets and maintain valuable relationships with all stakeholders, Pinecrest Glades will be in very capable hands when it begins operations in August. Montano emerged as the outstanding choice to lead the new school with a proven track record of bringing academic excellence to schools as an administrator.

Carrie Montano was born in Havana, Cuba and came to the United States of America in 1962. She was raised in Hialeah, Florida and graduated from Miami Springs Senior High School in 1971. She attended Miami-Dade Community College, Florida International University, Barry University and Nova Southeastern University and has an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Leadership. As part of the faculty at Miami Springs Senior High School, her alma mater, she taught English, ESOL, Reading, and Gifted. She was a counselor and finally the assistant principal in charge of curriculum at Miami Springs Middle School. Her first principalship was at Westview Middle School, followed by West Miami Middle School, and was then chosen to open Lamar Louise Curry Middle School. Along each step of her career, she has been acknowledged by her peers and colleagues as Teacher of the Year at Miami Springs Senior High School, Counselor of the Year for Region III and Principal of the Year. She is the only principal in Miami-Dade County Public School to open a second school, TERRA Environmental Research Institute, in 2009, and developed that school to have been recognized as the 2014 School of Excellence, Magnet Schools of America Distinction 2015 and Washington Post American’s Most Challenging High Schools 2016, to name a few.

Pinecrest Academy, Inc. is a high performing charter school network that operates 9 schools (on 12 sites) across 10 campuses. The organization has a fourteen-year proven track record of successfully implementing their vision of raising student achievement while decreasing the achievement gap for disadvantaged student populations. Schools are located in the cities of Miami and Orlando in Florida and Las Vegas in Nevada. For more information visit http://www.pinecrestacademyschools.org . Academica, one of the nation’s longest-serving and most successful charter school service and support organizations, is the education service provider for Pinecrest Academy, Inc. charter schools as well as for over 100 charter schools in Florida.