Morgan Marchbanks of Redwood City is a mother of three and an educator. In 2000, she was asked by the past Superintendent of Schools, to serve as interim principal of Sequoia High School just as it was foundering after years of staff turnover. Using the success of the students as a measure for the overall success of the school, within a year she had turned Sequoia around. She worked tirelessly to forge new staff hiring practices and to set high expectations for each subject area. She began implementing student focused learning, and soon the school began its climb upwards to higher standards and instructional excellence. Now, in 2009, the school has become a beacon for urban school success across the nation. In addition to her successful career as principal, she has also offered her time as a volunteer, serving for nine years on the Smart Cookie Scholarship Board, which assists underprivileged Latino students with achieving 4 years of college. She is also a Smart Cookie mentor and Garfield Charter School Board member. She has spent numerous hours volunteering as a Humanitarian Aide for Anti-Racist Solutions, working to oppose the imposition of the death penalty through volunteer case and law review and research for defendants. She sets the bar high in all that she does both in her career and her volunteer life. And, as Sequoia High School’s principal, she continues to strive to bring the future into the present, to allow young minds to achieve at their highest level.
