S. Christa McAuliffe Administration

Principal - Mrs. Marie Umali Gasaway

Hello! My name is Mrs. Marie Umali Gasaway, and I am excited to serve the S. Christa McAuliffe Elementary School community as principal.

I started thinking about being a teacher in 8th grade when I had an amazing English teacher who sparked a new found love of reading for me. After reading 52 books in 8th grade, I realized how quickly academic growth can be achieved simply by reading. I wanted to share the experience I had with other students. Additionally, I always wanted to coach softball and had to consider what profession would best allow me to do so. I graduated from Gaithersburg High School and went to The University of Maryland earning my B.A. in Secondary English Language Arts Education and English Language and Literature. I taught English at John F. Kennedy High School and then Argyle Magnet Middle School. I am also certified to teach ESOL as I earned a Master Certificate in Bilingual Special Education from The George Washington University. I then continued to serve as the English Resource Teacher at Quince Orchard High School. I was extremely grateful to impact the lives of 150 students a year within my own classroom walls and was guided into thinking about educational leadership as I’d be able to impact more students than just the ones who came into my classroom by supporting staff members. Therefore, I earned my M.S. in Educational Leadership from Hood College. I served as Assistant Principal at Winston Churchill High School and Robert Frost Middle School.  I will be entering my 17th year in MCPS at S. Christa McAuliffe Elementary School.

In the role as  Principal, my guiding belief is that all students have strengths that will make them successful after school and our job is to help identify and develop those strengths. 

Assistant Principal - Mr. Steven Marconi