Deborah Z. Thompson,
Alexandria City Public Schools, is principal of Douglas MacArthur Elementary School. She has been an educator in the Commonwealth of Virginia her entire career, a career which began in 1971 as a third grade teacher at Arcola Elementary School in Aldie, Va. In 1972,
Mrs. Thompson changed school districts and became an educator for the Alexandria City Public Schools system, teaching fourth grade at Jefferson Houston Elementary School. From 1973 to 1990, she was an elementary school teacher for grades one, two, and three at Douglas MacArthur Elementary School. During her 17-year tenure at MacArthur Elementary School she also served as a team leader and faculty chairperson. Mrs. Thompson was promoted to assistant principal of John F. Pattie Senior Elementary School and Annex in Dumfries, Va., in 1990. During her four years at Pattie Elementary School, her responsibilities included supervision of instruction, child study chairperson, and coordinator of special education programs. In the summer of 1994, she was the summer school principal for Westgate Elementary School in Manassas, Va., responsible for hiring teachers, grouping students, and implementing a thematic summer school program for ESL, special education, and remedial students. In the fall of 1994, Mrs. Thompson returned to MacArthur Elementary School assuming her present position as school principal. She holds a BS degree in elementary education from George Mason College and an MA degree in school administration from George Mason University both located in Fairfax, Va.