MARICE COHN BAND/MIAMI HERALD STAFF / MARICE COHN BAND/MIAMI HERALD STAFF	SOUTHWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL Her new business is her passion Southwood's new principal loves reading, writing and emotional teenagers and channels 'High School Musical' to inspire her teachers. Deborah Leal, pictured left, has taken over as principal at Southwood Middle School.

Posted on Sun, Oct. 21, 2007

As a child, Deborah Leal sat her dolls in a line and played teacher.

But Leal, the new principal of Southwood Middle School in Palmetto Bay, began studying business at Florida International University and didn't consider a career in education until several years later when she was working in finance and feeling unfulfilled.

So she rekindled her childhood job and her passions -- reading and writing -- and went back to school, this time to study English and education.

''It fit like a glove,'' Leal, 40, said of teaching. In business, ``I didn't feel connected with people.''

Now, Leal gets to connect with 1,700 students and 127 faculty and staff at Southwood, a public school with 620 fine arts magnet students in photography, drama, dance, music and art.

''Everyone feels really comfortable'' around Leal, said Brenda Gilpin, an art teacher at Southwood for 21 years. ``We love her.''

It's Leal's first job as a principal -- a ''teacher of teachers,'' as she calls it. Last year, she worked as assistant principal for curriculum at South Miami Senior High.

She was a middle school language arts teacher in three other middle schools before being assistant principal at Southwood for five years.

Leal held that position in February 2004, when eighth-grader Jaime Gough was stabbed to death in a school bathroom. While she hopes the school is remembered for its academics and successes, she said memories from the incident could be relived when a trial for Michael Hernandez, Gough's friend and accused killer, begins in January.

Meanwhile, although some educators shy away from sixth- through eighth-graders, Leal said she could not see herself working with a different age group.

''They're funny, and they're not as bad as people think,'' she said. ``There's a lot of energy and growing and feelings about things.''

The Miami native, who went to St. Brendan High School and now lives west of Cutler Bay, near the Redland, said she wants to establish some continuity in a school that has had three principals in the past five years, the last leaving to become principal at John A. Ferguson Senior High in West Kendall.

''What you want to do is create a community, and that takes time,'' said Leal, whose motto at the school this year is ''We're all in this together,'' inspired by a High School Musical song. ``I would love to be here many years.''

Parents so far have been pleased with their new principal, saying she is friendly, accessible and a good listener.

''She will sit down with us, and if there's any problems, she likes to talk about them instead of putting them off,'' said Elaine Quartin, the volunteer parent who runs the school bookstore and whose three children attend or have attended Southwood.

For now, Leal is focusing on maintaining the school's success: Last year, it had the highest middle school writing scores in the county, and it has received an A grade from the state the past seven years, she said.

Leal is also getting the campus ready for the construction of a new classroom building for the sixth grade, set to begin in November and finish by the end of the school year. But her goals also include improving teaching for students who are struggling and bringing community businesses and professionals to teach kids about future careers.

''It can't just be about the FCAT,'' Leal said. ``It has to be about learning.''