Donna Held

When you enter the campus at Maimonides Academy, you will hear a steady stream of enthusiasm, as students and teachers interact with one another. Maimonides Academy offers an outstanding educational program in a nurturing environment, which is why Mrs. Donna Held joined Maimonides Academy in 1999, and is excited to serve the school as its Head of General Studies. Mrs. Held feels that her greatest purpose is to support high student achievement, and create a strong sense of student well-being and student community. Mrs. Held believes it is important to lead the school with joy and humor, and to develop trusting and fair relationships between young people and adults. She is dedicated to enhancing teaching and learning, to promote innovation, and to help the school live its educational values with clarity and integrity.

Mrs. Held is recognized as a passionate and innovative educator with an unwavering focus on the needs of children. A skilled leader with over thirty years of experience, she has previously served as a school principal and teacher spanning elementary through twelfth grades. Mrs. Held was selected from educators worldwide as a featured educator for Intel’s Education Initiative: An Innovation Odyssey, a program, which integrated technology, science, art, and social studies. Mrs. Held has also served as an administrator for a national bipartisan children’s advocacy group whose work ensures that children are the top public policy priority. She participated with a team of educators to create an alternative approach to traditional teacher training such as the schools within-a-school model while attending San Francisco State University where she specialized in gifted and talented education, graduated with honors, and earned her California Teaching Credential.