Priscilla Zarate has been appointed as the new ENL and world language K-12 coordinator for the district.

Prior to this, she had served since 2015 as executive director of the New York City Department of Education’s Division of English Language Learners and Student Support. She previously worked for seven years as assistant coordinator for bilingual and ENL programs at the Brentwood School District; for a year as bilingual, ENL and dual language programs coordinator for the Long Beach School District; and for eight years as bilingual, ENL and dual language coordinator for the Christa McAuliffe School in Jackson Heights, Queens. 

A resident of Deer Park, Zarate earned her bachelor’s degree in Spanish literature and elementary education at Hunter College of the City of New York, her master’s degree in bilingual education at Bank Street College, and her school district administrator and school building administrator degrees from the College of Saint Rose.

Since 2013, Zarate has been a committee member of the Town of Babylon Department of Human Services’ annual Hispanic Heritage Festival, for which she coordinates children’s programs and activities. In 2013, she was recognized at the festival by the town and Supervisor Rich Schaffer as a “Hispanic Leader Serving and Guiding Our Nation with Pride and Honor.” That same year, she was honored by State Sen. Phil Boyle at the Hispanic Heritage Awards ceremony in Brentwood.

“I believe that every child deserves high quality educational programs that value, respect and represent the cultural diversity and languages students bring into their school communities,” said Zarate. “Every child should be well prepared for a global society by providing them access to educational opportunities where they can become multilingual and multiliterate and extend their horizons to cross-cultural understanding and sensibility. My goal is to provide students, parents and teachers with the resources and support they may need to become successful in their school communities, as well as to instill leadership skills in students and encourage parents to take leadership roles in the education of their children. I look forward to continuing to develop successful programs that foster equality and an appreciation for learning languages.”