It has been quite the ride for Angela Burgos. After 28 years as Head of School at Centennial Academy — and a total of 40 years in the educational field — Burgos is stepping down from her post on June 30.

She will be much missed by students, their parents and her colleagues.

Burgos will be replaced by Anika Maloni, formerly the assistant head of school at Sacred Heart and, prior to that, Centennial’s academic dean.

To say that Burgos has been a pioneering educator hardly does proper justice to her work: She has changed the lives of hundreds with “learning differences” who once had no place to go, but upon entering Centennial they developed the confidence to acquire an education and move on with their lives.

Centennial serves a largely special-needs student base of 300 — about 45 per cent anglo and 55 per cent franco — dealing with such neurodivergent challenges as autism spectrum issues, ADHD and dyslexia.

On top of dealing with the academic aspects, Burgos also found herself in a seemingly non-ending battle for funding to keep the school alive. This entailed much negotiation with the provincial government as well as reaching out to the private sector and organizing fundraisers — two led by singer Martha Wainwright.

As a result, the school is now on much more solid financing footing. Yet while Centennial receives funding for its anglo sector, it doesn’t for its French side because no accreditation has been given to private schools in this province since 2008, and Centennial, originally an English-language institution, opened its private French division in 2016.

Franco parents have been increasingly more drawn to Centennial since the launch of the French section because they feel that their children’s needs are best addressed there. Centennial also offers bursaries to franco and anglo parents unable to afford tuition costs.

“It was really a coalition of foundations that saved us, but we’re still lobbying hard for the French sector,” Burgos says in her Centennial office. “The hope is that we can get the same funding as we........

© Montreal Gazette