About Internationals:
School Leaders

Alexandra Anormaliza

Principal, The International High School at Prospect Heights

Alexandra is the founding principal of The International High School at Prospect Heights, which she founded in September 2004 in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn. She began her career teaching at Murry Bergtraum High School in lower Manhattan. During her nine years there, Alexandra was primarily responsible for teaching English Language Learners (ELLs), mainly from Latin America and China. Alexandra then became an education administrator and served as the executive assistant to the superintendent of District 6, covering schools in Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood. Her professional background, coupled with her experience as an immigrant and first-time learner of English, led Alexandra to develop a strong interest in opening a school that would serve the educational needs of immigrant students. In 2003 she entered the New York City Leadership Academy and also spent a year interning at Bronx International High School before opening International High School at Prospect Heights.

Marcella Barros

School Leader, Pan American International High School

Marcella is currently the School Leader for our first common language model, the Pan American International High School (PAIHS), which is due to open in September of 2007. She began her teaching career at International High School at La Guardia Community College (IHS-LaGCC) and received her MA in Secondary Science Education from Hunter College. Her six years as a science teacher of 9th and 10th grade students grounded her in the Internationals Approach. In addition to her teaching duties, Marcella also served as the Chair of the Professional Development Committee and a member of the School Leadership Team at IHS-LaGCC. Marcella has presented workshops on Project Based Instruction at the Middle College National Consortium Conference and the Gates Foundation Conference for English Language Learners, as well as a workshop in Language and Content Integration at Internationals Network for Public Schools (Internationals) Summer Professional Development Conference. As her experiences outside the classroom continued to expand Marcella became very interested in the roles of instructional leadership and professional development. These experiences, as well as her own personal experience as a child of Latino immigrants formed her vision for a school that serves Spanish-speaking English Language Learners and integrates various themes and topics of Latin America. Marcella strongly believes in the power of a community-based school and is pleased to have PAIHS partnered with the Latin American Integration Center, a community-based organization that serves and empowers Latino immigrant communities.

Berena Cabarcas

Principal, International Community High School

Berena Cabarcas is currently a principal intern at Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School on the South Bronx High School Campus. Berena joined the New York City Leadership Academy’s Aspiring Principals Program in July 2005 and will receive her Administration and Supervision certification and Masters in Administration from Baruch College School of Public Affairs Executive Programs in the summer of 2006. She first joined the International high school community as a teacher at Manhattan International High School in February of 1997. During this time, she pursued a second bachelors of arts in biology at Hunter College. In January of 2001, she left first to work with the New York State Psychiatric Institute affiliated with Columbia Presbyterian Hospital as a research assistant with the Substance Use Research Center. She was then became the science founding faculty member at Bronx International High School in September of 2001. She returned to Manhattan International the following year and worked on the Coordinating Council, became the Co-chair and then the Chair. In the summer of 2004, Berena and three of her students participated in the Scientific Reading and Writing Program at Rockefeller University. The four worked as a research team on three major projects related to Fanconi Anemia, a genetic disorder that significantly shortens the life span of carriers. Following that experience, she became the Science Coordinator at Manhattan International High School and with her colleagues developed the science benchmarks for each level and a new science graduation portfolio rubric and project requirements. In November 2005, she was selected by the Internationals to become the School Leader at International Community High School opening Fall 2006.

Alan Krull

Principal, Manhattan International High School

Alan is the principal of Manhattan International High School. He has worked in the New York City public school system for 25 years. Alan was a founding member of IHS at LaGuardia Community College where he taught for 12 years. While there, he actively participated in school governance, helped to establish personnel procedures, and served on the coordinating council (the policy making body of the school), staff development and curriculum committees. Alan also helped to create the interdisciplinary program and the project-based activities and portfolio assessment process that make up the International Approach. In addition to serving on the faculty, Alan also coached volleyball and basketball. In 1997, Alan moved into educational leadership and became an Assistant Principal at Hunter College High School. Although he enjoyed working at Hunter, Alan missed working with immigrant youth and the International Approach, and jumped at the opportunity to become Assistant Principal at Manhattan IHS in 1999. He became Principal in 2003. Alan received his BS from Brooklyn College in 1976, his MS from Ithaca College in 1978 and his School Administrator and Supervisor certification from Fordham University in 1995. .

Joseph Luft

Principal, Flushing International High School

Joseph Luft is the founding principal of the Flushing International High School, which opened in September 2004. He has had the benefit of working in three different International High Schools: Brooklyn IHS, IHS at LaGuardia Community College, and Flushing IHS. For six years, Joseph worked as an ESL/humanities teacher and took on various leadership roles at Brooklyn IHS. Through his experience at Brooklyn IHS, Joseph developed his interest in starting a new school based on the International Approach. Joe began his teaching career in the Washington, DC public schools. Prior to teaching, Joseph worked as the executive assistant in the Aspira Association, Inc. National Office in Washington, DC where his interest in working with young people in general and public education in particular intensified. Joseph is a graduate of the New Leaders for New Schools urban principal preparation program and completed his principal residency at IHS at LaGCC in 2004. Joseph has a BA in History and Hispanic Studies from Connecticut College and an MA in ESL/Secondary Education from the George Washington University.

Lee Pan

Principal, The International High School at LaGuardia Community College

Lee is the principal of The International High School at LaGuardia Community College. She has worked in the New York City public school system for 23 years. Lee began her education career in 1982 at Newtown High School in Queens as a bilingual science teacher where she worked in both Chinese and Korean. In 1985, Lee joined the founding team of IHS at LaGCC and served as a guidance counselor. Lee moved into counseling because she felt there was a lack of support for immigrant youth in the school system. She found working as a guidance counselor at IHS to be very fulfilling, and enjoyed working closely with the teachers, students and parents to provide more personalized support for the students. Lee helped to develop the International Approach that was birthed out of IHS at LaGCC. She strongly believes in the power of language development through all content areas and an interdisciplinary, project-based approach, which she has seen produce strong positive outcomes over her career. Lee became Assistant Principal of IHS at LaGCC in 2000 and then Principal in 2004. Lee received her BA from the College of Notre Dame, and her MA in School Counseling and Professional Diploma in School Administration from St. John's University.

Carmelita Reyes

Principal, Oakland International High School

Carmelita is the principal of Oakland International High School, which will open in the fall of 2007. Prior to becoming principal, she was a founding teacher at Life Academy of Health and Bio-Science located in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland. There, she taught 10th grade humanities, journalism and photography. In 2005 she was awarded the honor of "Oakland Unified School District Teacher of the Year." Carmelita began her teaching career in New York City, teaching to a primarily Dominican population. Carmelita received her BA in Economics at Princeton University and studied abroad at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She received a Masters in Education at Columbia University.

Michael Soet

Principal, The International High School at Kingsborough Community College

Michael is the founding principal of The International High School at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn which opened in September 2005. He began his teaching career as an English as a Foreign Language instructor in Poland, where he worked in several different high schools, both rural and urban. After receiving his MA in Teaching, he joined the Internationals family and began teaching social studies at Manhattan IHS. Michael became the Interim Acting Assistant Principal there in 2003. Michael earned his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and his MA from Teachers College at Columbia University.

Pamela Taranto

Principal, Brooklyn International High School

Pamela, the principal of The Brooklyn International High School, was also a founding member of the school. She has been with the New York City public school system for 19 years. In 1994, she joined Brooklyn International as a teacher of mathematics. Pamela has a strong commitment to the International Model because of its impressive impact on student achievement. Pamela was active in the professional development of mathematics teachers with an emphasis on student-centered hands-on mathematics activities, academic language development, and use of technology through project-based learning. She was a member of various committees, including Steering and Personnel, and participated in the development of the portfolio assessment process for International High School students. In 2004, Pamela became the Interim Acting Assistant Principal and assumed the role of Principal in 2006. Pamela earned her undergraduate degree from Baruch College, CUNY, her graduate degree from Brooklyn College, CUNY, and her MS in School Administration and Supervision from Touro College.

Joaquin Vega

Principal, Bronx International High School

Joaquin, the principal of Bronx International High School, was a founding member of The Manhattan International High School where he started as a school aide and later became a teacher of mathematics. Joaquin also coached basketball, volleyball, softball and project adventure. He served as the co-chair of the coordinating council at MIHS. After ten years at MIHS, Joaquin joined BxIHS as an assistant principal in 2004 where he also served as the athletic director for the Morris High School Campus. Joaquin is a great role model for our students as he has been where our students are now, emigrating from Colombia as a teenager. Joaquin received his undergraduate degree from Queens College in Computer Science, his MS in Instructional Technology from NYIT and his MS in School Administration and Supervision from Touro College.

Internationals Network for Public Schools: 50 Broadway, Suite 2200, New York, NY 10004: email