DoDEA

PEACHTREE CITY, GA — May 24, 2010 — Dr. Linda Curtis, Area Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS) and Department of Defense Dependents Schools, Cuba, (DoDDS-Cuba) announced today that Ms. Sonja Rodriguez has been named principal of W.T. Sampson School, aboard Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the South Carolina/Fort Stewart/DoDDS-Cuba District. Dr. Kathy Einhorn, current principal, will retire June 30.

Rodriguez joined DoDEA in 1998 when she taught science at Schweinfurt Middle School in the Bavaria District of DoDDS-Europe. She taught math, science and gifted education at D.G. Farragut Middle/High School in Rota, Spain. She began her administrative career in 2005 when she was named assistant principal of E.J. King Middle/High School in Sasebo, Japan, in DoDDS-Pacific.

“I look forward to having Ms. Rodriguez join our team,” said Dr. Samantha Ingram, the South Carolina/Fort Stewart/DoDDS-Cuba District Superintendent. “The experience she brings as an instructional leader will be of great benefit to our students, teachers and our military families.”

As the daughter of a career Army soldier, Rodriguez attended 12 schools prior to graduating from C.E. Ellison High School in Killeen, Texas. She earned her Bachelor’s of Science Degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and her Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Tarleton State University in Texas.

Rodriquez has two children. Daughter, Ofelia Pastora, will be a freshman at W.T. Sampson School. Her son, Joshua, is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. He and his wife, Michelle, have a daughter, Eva Mari.