- The School District of Palm Beach County
- South Region Office
South Region
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Dr. Rachel Capitano
Regional SuperintendentClick photo for biography
Dr. Rachel Capitano
South Regional Superintendent
Palm Beach County School DistrictDr. Rachel Capitano began her career in education within the School District of Palm Beach County in 2002 as a language arts teacher at Loggers’ Run Middle School. When Don Estridge High Tech Middle School opened its doors in 2004, she was appointed the language arts department chair at the new innovative technology school.
In 2006, Dr. Capitano transitioned her love of literacy to serve as the School District’s Language Arts Program Planner where she led a team of dedicated specialists to move secondary literacy to new academic levels.
Always looking to achieve professional growth and to be in the forefront of advancing student achievement, Dr. Capitano became an assistant principal at Woodlands Middle School and later at Spanish River High School until she became the principal of Sandpiper Shores Elementary and then principal of Del Prado Elementary. Because of her accomplished leadership and passion for Don Estridge High Tech Middle School, she later returned in 2017 to serve as principal of the school.
While serving as principal of Don Estridge High Tech Middle School, Dr. Capitano received several awards, including:
- 2019-2020 Florida Council of Instructional Technology Innovative Principal of the Year
- 2019-2020 Palm Beach County Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) Principal of the Year
- 2020-2021 Palm Beach County Principal of the Year
Dr. Capitano went on to lead elementary principals as an Instructional Superintendent in the South Region from 2021 to 2023. In this role, she supervised, coached, and mentored 15 diverse school principals on the continuous improvement of their schools. In 2022, the Florida Department of Education reported the school grade ratings for the 15 elementary schools supervised by Dr. Capitano. These schools earned 8 'A's, 3 'B's, and 4 'C's, respectively.
As the South Region Superintendent, Dr. Capitano is dedicated to understanding the culture and learning needs of individual students, overseeing a region of 57 diverse schools with nearly 65,000 students and over 6,500 employees. She is committed to the district's mission in order to educate, affirm, and inspire each student in an equity-embedded school system and uphold the superintendent’s strategic plan.
Dr. Capitano earned a Bachelor of Science in English and a Master of Education in Secondary Education from West Virginia University, a Certification in Educational Leadership from Florida Atlantic University, and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Lynn University.
Dr. Capitano firmly believes that service to others is the best work of life.
Instructional Superintendents
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Dr. Anthony Lockhart
Dr. Anthony Lockhart
South Region Instructional Superintendent
School District of Palm Beach CountyAnthony Lockhart, a native Floridian, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Jackson State University. He earned his doctoral degree from Barry University.
For more than 27 years, Dr. Lockhart worked as an educator. During his time with Palm Beach County Schools, he has worked in many different capacities - as school counselor, coach, mentor, assistant principal, principal and director. In all of these positions, a primary consideration was helping colleagues and students to reach their full potential.
He has served as principal of Loggers’ Run Community Middle School (interim), Bear Lakes Middle School, Atlantic Community High School, Lake Shore Middle School, and Boynton Beach Community High School. He also served as the Director of School Transformation and Federal Programs.
At Bear Lakes Middle School, the students earned the highest reading gains and the largest improvement in writing scores in the county. Under his leadership, the school improved its letter grade, and added academies in Civil Air Patrol, biotechnology, and leadership.
While at Atlantic Community High, the school expanded the International Baccalaureate program to include a career certificate component, thereby giving more students the opportunity to benefit from the highly recognized curriculum. Under his administration, the school also added the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education program (AICE). Of the students who graduated in 2015, 100% were accepted to college for the fall of 2016. During his tenure, Atlantic was the highest performing Title I school in the county and one of the top performing Title I schools in the state of Florida.
In 2016, Dr. Lockhart was asked by the superintendent to go to Lake Shore Middle School as principal. The school had earned an F for the second year in a row. With a dedicated staff, a refocused student body, and a supportive community, the school improved in every academic category. Many tested areas saw double digit improvement. The school increased two letter grades; additionally, in five improvement and achievement categories, the school ranked in the top 10% of all middle schools in the state of Florida.
While serving as the Director of School Transformation and Federal Programs, Dr. Lockhart was asked to serve as the interim principal of Boynton Beach Community High School. During his tenure, the school added an AICE Academy, gained worldwide recognition for its Boynton Aerospace Academy, and twice earned the highest graduation rate in the school’s history.
Dr. Lockhart has been recognized by the South Florida Industry Partners in Education as SECME’s Administrator of the Year. He has also been selected as a Stellar Performer in Education by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and has been the recipient of the African-American Diaspora Award for outstanding achievement in education. The Jim Moran Foundation identified him as an African-American Achiever in Education Award recipient. Additionally, Dr. Lockhart has been honored as Palm Beach County’s Principal of the Year as well as the Florida Association of Administrators Principal of the Year.
Formerly, Dr. Lockhart was selected by the Governor of Florida to work on the state’s Education Accountability Summit as a panelist. The panel consisted of public officials, superintendents, educators, businessmen, and community members. Dr. Lockhart and panelists were selected to discuss the sustainability and transparency of the state’s accountability system. At the national level, he was selected to serve on the principals’ panel of the National Association for Educational Progress (NAEP). For the past ten years he and his colleagues have addressed the needs of students in the United States.
Dr. Lockhart believes that education is the greatest equalizer.
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Dr. Jennifer Sanders
Jennifer Sanders, Ed.D.
South Instructional Superintendent
School District of Palm Beach CountyServing in the American public education system for more than twenty-five years, Dr. Jennifer Sanders passion and life's work has been to be an advocate to help ALL children achieve the best possible education that America has to offer. Her personal quote that describes her "why" and drives decision-making is "Every student deserves the opportunity to be globally competitive."
Dr. Sanders has served as a teacher, curriculum specialist, literacy coach, National and State Presenter, assistant principal, adjunct professor principal, and district director, and instructional superintendent. In her tenure as principal, she closed the achievement gap twice, leading two low-performing schools to “A” grades. Dr. Sanders has been recognized as an ECTAC Award Winning Principal, Elementary School Principal of the Year, and Honorary Member at the National AVID Summer Institute.
Dr. Sanders holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida and a Master’s and a Doctoral degree from Nova Southeastern University.
As part of her personal commitment to global outreach, Dr. Sanders currently supports the Rwandan Education Assistance Program (REAP). Her support focuses on helping to develop and implement data-informed models of education for children attending rural public schools in Rwanda, Africa.
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Ms. Alicia Steiger
Ms. Alicia Steiger
South Region Instructional Superintendent, Elementary
School District of Palm Beach CountyAlicia Steiger is beginning her twenty-eighth year as an educator in the School District of Palm Beach County. She has held various roles as an intermediate teacher, Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Contact, Assistant Principal, Principal, and Instructional Superintendent. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mental Handicaps from Florida State University and a Master’s Degree in Varying Exceptionalities from Florida Atlantic University. She also holds an Educational Specialist’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Florida Atlantic University.
Mrs. Steiger began teaching at Westward Elementary in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1995. Lady Bird Johnson once stated, “Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.” This has been Mrs. Steiger’s mantra since she began her educational journey as a special education teacher. She is truly passionate about the field of special education and wants to ensure that every child reaches his/her greatest potential. Her first administrator position was at Boca Raton Community Middle School as an Assistant Principal. She spent nine years at the secondary level before becoming the principal at Sunrise Park Elementary. Mrs. Steiger created a competitive enrichment program for students in grades K-5 at Sunrise Park Elementary School. This program allowed students to access an accelerated curriculum at their home school without having to attend a gifted center. Sunrise Park was rated an “A” by the Florida Department of Education during all twelve years that Mrs. Steiger held the role of the principal. Sunrise Park also received many other prestigious awards such as the School of Excellence, PBS Platinum Model School from the University of South Florida, and the MTSS Recognized School by the University of Florida.
Mrs. Steiger has been married to her husband Hans since 2001 and they are the proud parents of two daughters, Caroline (19) and Cameron (15). Caroline graduated from Palm Beach Central in 2022 and Cameron is expected to graduate from Palm Beach Central in 2026.
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Educational Data Warehouse (EDW)
Ashley DiLeonardo
EDW Performance Accountability Specialist
(561) 434-8913Exceptional Student Education (ESE)
Karen Lubin, South Region ESE Coordinator
(561) 731-2893Jonah Nguyen, South Region ESE Administrative Assistant
Contact Information
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Address:
1790 NW Spanish River Blvd.
Boca Raton, FL 33431Phone: (561) 982-0918 & (561) 982-0919
Hours: 7:30-4:30
Email: southregionoffice@palmbeachschools.org
Directions:
I-95 to Yamato Road. West to Military Trail. South to next light (Spanish River Blvd.). Go east on Spanish River Blvd. Regional Office is on the north side on the campus of Don Estridge High Tech Middle School.