Douglas Rodriguez
Principal

Douglas Rodriguez is a lifelong educator and product of the Miami-Dade County Public School System. He began his teaching career as a Social Studies instructor at Miami Central Sr. High School thirty-three years ago.  He served the Miami-Dade District in various schools prior to his first administrative appointment. While an administrator at G. Holmes Braddock Sr. High School, Mr. Rodriguez received his first appointment as Principal of Miami Springs Sr. In 2005, he was given the honor of opening the first public high school in the City of Doral, Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Sr.   

 

Mr. Rodriguez volunteered to take over as Principal of Miami Central Senior High School which had received five straight “F” grades from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) and was in danger of being closed.  By the time Mr. Rodriguez tenure was over as Principal of Miami Central the school had succeeded in completely turning around its academic program. In 2011, President Brarack Obama visited Central Senior High School and proclaimed it a model turnaround school to be emulated around the country.  

 

Mr. Rodriguez has also served as the Principal at Doral Academy Charter Preparatory Middle/High School in Doral.  His school has been recognized by Newsweek, US News and World Report and The Washington Post as one of the top schools in the country. In 2014 Doral Academy Performing Arts High School was awarded a Blue Ribbon by the United States Department of Education as an exemplary High Performing School.  In 2015, Doral Middle School was awarded a Blue Ribbon and in 2017, Doral Academy of Technology was awarded a Blue Ribbon.  

 

Mr. Rodriguez is also the founder of Doral College, which opened in the fall of 2011 and served as its President, and CEO until 2020.  The Doral College model was the first completely integrated college model for high school students of its kind in charter school history.   

 

Mr. Rodriguez currently serves as the Principal of Mater Virtual, International Studies Virtual, Colegiate Preparatory Virtual, Mater Biscayne Middle School and Mater Biscayne High School. His future project opening in 2023-2024 is Miami Technology High School at Mater Innovation Academy.  A school focused on an innovative technology curriculum leading to Associates Degrees in Cyber Security, Cloud Computing or Mobile Applications Development.  The project is a collaboration with the City of Miami, Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus and Mater Academy Inc. Charter Schools. 

 

A native of New York City, Mr. Rodriguez holds a B.A from Barry University, M.A. from Nova Southeastern University and an Ed.S from Barry University.  He has served as the chair of the Senior High School Principals committee and was selected as Miami-Dade County School’s Police Principal of the Year in 2003, Dade County Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principal of the Year in 2007, Miami-Dade County Principal of the Year in 2008, State of Florida Principal of the Year in 2008 and was the recipient of The Leonard Miller Principal Leadership Award in 2008. He also currently serves as an educational consultant to various private organizations He has presented to teachers and administrators throughout the country and his prior travels have taken him to Milwaukee Public Schools, Memphis Public Schools, and St. Croix Public Schools.