Meet Our Principal

Principal Amaya's Biography

As a proud graduate from Dallas Independent School District, Stephanie Amaya lives her life with a deep commitment and dedication to the people and communities she is a part of. She has worked in education for her entire career- from teacher to principal primarily in the DISD, bringing innovative ideas to her schools including International Baccalaureate Programme, Expeditionary Learning, and Novel Engineering.

Prior to serving the community at W.H. Adamson High School, Ms. Amaya served as principal at John Neely Bryan Elementary-an ACE campus in South Oak Cliff, and John Ireland Elementary-in Pleasant Grove due to her track record with turn-around schools and increasing academic achievement. In 2018, Ms. Amaya was selected as Principal of the Year by the Southeast Network and was chosen as Outstanding Principal in 2019 by the Dallas Southeast Chamber of Commerce.

During her elementary career, Ms. Amaya also served as an Assistant Principal at Kramer Elementary and taught bilingual kindergarten and 5th grade science at Stevens Park Elementary. In her secondary experience, she was selected to join a turn-around team at Boude Storey Middle School where she taught 6-8 science, coached girls soccer and helped the school move to #1 out of 30 comprehensive middle schools. She also had the opportunity to continue working with her students by moving to the feeder pattern high school-South Oak Cliff High School SOC where she worked to increase students graduation rate while continuing to support student athletes on the soccer field.

Miss Amaya is a first generation college graduate from the University of North Texas with her Bachelor's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and Bilingual Education, received a Master's degree in Educational Leadership from Lamar University, and is currently a doctoral student in Educational Leadership at Dallas Baptist University.

Ms. Amaya's identity as a Latina and Christian woman is a central part of who she is, and is in continuous work and improvement. Through her leadership, she always serves to make those around her to be the best they can be. She helps her schools become an engaging, supportive environment and can often be found on weekends tackling projects at her campus to make it even better. She is the type of leader who is willing to push up her sleeves and actively make the vision come to life.

She believes, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."

-Martin Luther King Jr.