Sewanhaka Central High School District

The district welcomes Marya Baker as the principal of Elmont Memorial High School, effective at the start of the upcoming school year.

Prior to joining the Sewanhaka district, Baker served as principal of the Carol and Frank Biondi Middle and High School at the Rising Ground Agency in Yonkers, N.Y.  Through her role as principal, she aligned Therapeutic Crisis Intervention, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and Social-Emotional Learning programs to effectively improve student and staff relationships, attendance and student engagement; created professional learning communities with ongoing support from instructional coaches; improved Regents passing rates and increased the number of students passing all state tests in middle school and high school; and increased graduation rates and created a college-going school culture, among other accomplishments. The school achieved a full compliance rating at the NY State Education Quality Review under her leadership.

Additionally, Baker has held positions as principal and director of instruction at Opportunity Charter School, and literacy coach and ELA teacher at I.S. 347 School of Humanities.

Baker received her B.A. in Music/English from Avila University, her M.A. in English from Northwestern University, her M.S.T. in English 7-12 from Pace University, and an administration certification for K-12 from the College of Saint Rose.