Farewell to our Elementary School Principal Monika Rodrigues

Dear Members of our GISW Community,

On behalf of our entire school community, I would like to say a heartfelt thank-you and farewell to a particularly distinguished member of the GISW community.

Our esteemed and revered Elementary School Principal, Ms. Monika Rodrigues, will retire from the GISW as she shifts her energy into other directions. Ms. Rodrigues has spent more than half of her professional life at the German International School Washington D.C. and has definitely left her mark on our school.

After her beginnings as a substitute, Ms. Rodrigues continued to develop as an educator, and consistently took on new areas of responsibility during her 22 years of service: first as a mathematics teacher and homeroom teacher, then as Deputy Elementary School Principal and in recent years as Elementary School Principal.

However, straightforwardness and consistency are not only terms that can be used to describe Ms. Rodrigues' professional development, but they also describe the way she conducted her daily responsibilities. Whether related to issues raised by parents and students, or teachers, Ms. Rodrigues always held herself to the highest standards to make appropriate and fair decisions in the interest of the entire school and she always made sure that the outcome of these decisions were implemented.

And now, Ms. Rodrigues has decided this is the right time to leave our school to spend more time with her family. While we are sad to see her leave, we are also so grateful to Ms. Rodrigues for her many years of hard work and dedication to the school. In this spirit, we wish Mrs. Monika Rodrigues all the best in this new chapter of her life and hope that she leaves with as many fond memories of her years here as she has given to all of us.

With warm greetings,

Petra Palenzatis