Richard Montgomery High School Principal Alicia Morales Deeny has been named Principal of the Year by the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS).
ALAS is a national nonprofit organization focused on leadership development for school and district leaders serving Latino students and other historically marginalized student populations. The organization provides leadership programs, advocacy, professional networks, and other resources for education leaders across the country.
Deeny has spent more than 25 years with Montgomery County Public Schools and currently leads Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, a school of more than 2,300 students.
When Deeny was appointed principal of Richard Montgomery in 2021, she made history in two ways. She became the first female principal in the school’s history, which dates back to 1892, and the first Latina high school principal in MCPS history.
According to ALAS, Richard Montgomery has maintained a 95% graduation rate under Deeny’s leadership, along with strong Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate performance. The organization also noted the school’s recent ranking as the No. 7 public high school in Maryland.
Before taking over at Richard Montgomery, Deeny spent eight years as principal of Takoma Park Middle School. ALAS credited her tenure there with an 85% student reading proficiency rate, staff morale 20% above the district average, and the implementation of restorative practices that helped reduce suspensions.
Earlier in her MCPS career, Deeny served as an assistant principal at Montgomery Blair High School, where she co-founded “Los Padres,” an initiative designed to increase engagement among Latino families.
Deeny grew up in Montgomery County and attended local public schools. The daughter of a Puerto Rican mother who was a writer, historian, and educator, Deeny has previously discussed how her mother emphasized pride in the family’s heritage and spoke to her in Spanish while she was growing up.
Her previous honors include being named the 2025 Hispanic Educator of the Year by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Montgomery County and the 2018 Educator of the Year at the Maryland Hispanic Gala.
Deeny earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in Latin American History from the University of Maryland. She is also a singer-songwriter and guitarist who has incorporated music into her work with students.
