After attaining a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with a minor in Bilingual Education in 1980, Ms Garcia began teaching in a first grade bilingual classroom at Kanoon Magnet School in the Little Village community. She taught in the classroom for 5 years and continued to serve as a Program Coordinator, Bilingual Lead Teacher and Assistant Principal. She also had the opportunity to work as an Assistant Principal at Columbia Explorers Academy. Ms. Garcia was selected to open McKinley Park Elementary School in 2003 where she now serves as the Principal/Instructional Leader and has raised the scores from 40% to 71.5% of the students meeting/exceeding the state standards in 4 years! Her school has been featured at the Chicago Cultural Center, James H. Thompson Center, The Newberry Library, and Chicago's Field Museum.