2015 Master Teachers: Lorraine Ruiz-Alma

Dr. Maria Lorraine Ruiz-Alma was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 1961. Her parents were Spaniard immigrants. As a child she was an avid reader, loved music, poetry, arts, and she later became an amateur botanist. As a young woman she enrolled in different universities to nurture her curious mind: Economics at Pedro Henriquez Ureña University, Marketing at Colorado University, Education at Santo Domingo Catholic University and at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Certified Master Trainer at NASA´s GLOBE Program at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, in Miami University.

In 1995 she founded Notre Dame School with the idea of changing the education offered in the Dominican Republic by elevating it to the international standard levels, and from then onwards. She was one of the founders and an active member to the board of directors for the first National Federation of Private Schools (FENACEP) in the country, a pioneer and leader of the introduction and use of technology in the classrooms, she introduced environmental education in the Dominican Curriculum, she shared her expertise in ICT in Primary Education with UNESCO IITE project, she designed the winning project that gave a National Flower and a National Tree to Dominican Republic and she also served as an enthusiastic GLOBE teacher-trainer and Microsoft Educator Expert in: Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Panama, Peru, South Africa, Spain, and USA.

Dr. Maria Lorraine Ruiz-Alma is married to Arnaldo A. Ruiz-Alma, Business Administrator, and has three children. Her passions are creating pedagogical ways to introduce new technologies and scientific projects at Notre Dame School, spending time with her family, and gardening.