CATEGORY: Uncategorized
Isabella Senzamici • Jun 23, 2026
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If you spend even a few minutes around Angela “Angie” Martinez, you’ll quickly understand why students call her “Miss Mom.” It’s a nickname that captures something essential about her: she meets students where they are, keeps it real, and never lowers the bar.
Angie currently serves as interim principal and dean of students at Achievement First Providence Middle School, but this fall, she will step into a new role as the founding principal of Envision Middle School.
For Angie, the moment is both exciting and deeply emotional. When she shared the news with her Providence Middle School colleagues, the reaction was immediate and heartfelt. Staff described her as “the rock of the school,” a reflection of the steady leadership she’s provided since joining Achievement First right out of college.
Angie began her AF journey as a science teacher in 2019, transitioned into co-teaching during the uncertainty of COVID, then became a seventh-grade math teacher, grade-level lead, associate dean, and eventually dean of students. Each step built toward the realization that impact doesn’t only happen at the front of a classroom.
That perspective shift didn’t happen overnight. Angie credits a mentor, former principal Donovan Tracy, with helping her see that leadership could be just as powerful as teaching. Today, she still leans on that guidance as she prepares to lead her own school community.
But to understand Angie’s “why,” you have to go back even further:
Born in the Dominican Republic, Angie moved to the United States at age five. Despite being academically ahead, she was placed back into kindergarten because she didn’t speak English. She remembers what it felt like to be misunderstood and unsupported. Later, she found a different kind of school experience, one where teachers made her feel safe, seen, and capable.
That contrast shaped everything.
In high school, a group of teachers went as far as meeting with her family for seven hours to advocate for her to attend college away from home. That level of belief changed her trajectory, and now defines her purpose. Angie is committed to being that same kind of advocate for her students, creating spaces where they feel safe naming obstacles and confident that someone will help them navigate them.
It’s also why she’s so drawn to middle school.
“People think it’s chaos,” she jokes, “but it’s actually the best age.” Yes, middle schoolers will test boundaries (or what she affectionately calls a little bit of “rage-baiting”), but beneath that is something deeper. When relationships are strong, they’re also the most loyal, the most joyful, and the most loving age group, she believes.
That philosophy shows up in how she leads. Angie is known for being able to “level” with students, engaging in lighthearted back-and-forth, even a little respectful roasting, while still holding firm expectations.
As she looks ahead to Envision Middle School, that same balance will be at the center of her vision.
She believes deeply that all students are brilliant, and that access to grade-level learning is not a privilege, but a right. Her goal is to build a school where families are true partners, and where expectations for Providence students are sky high.
“There’s so much talent here,” she says. “Our job is to bring it out.”
That work feels personal. As an immigrant and now a parent to her nearly two-year-old son, AJ, Angie is even more driven to build schools that support the whole child: academically, emotionally, and socially.
Even as she steps into this new leadership role, there are parts of the classroom she still misses: the “aha” moments when a concept clicks, and the day-to-day connections that come from knowing every detail of a student’s life (and, yes, all the gossip).
But if you ask anyone who knows her, they’ll tell you: she hasn’t left that work behind. She’s just scaled it.
From “Miss Girl” to founding principal, Angie Martinez is building something bigger, without ever losing what made her special in the first place.
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