Alfred Meneses, the new assistant principal at Palmetto Middle School, credits the U.S. Army with pointing him on his career path.

Alfred Meneses

“When I first started at Miami-Dade Community College, I was placed in remedial classes in English, mathematics, reading, everything,” he recalled. “I was way down in my skills and I think part of the reason I went into the military was to gain a little confidence.”

Meneses, 30, quit college and joined the U.S. Army National Guard. After three months of boot camp, he served six years in active reserve and two years in the inactive ranks. 

“When I came back from basic training, I went back to college and I did well,” he recalled. “I found my niche early on.”

Meneses says his years in the National Guard were a positive experience and he has many memories.

“My most memorable services were guarding the Pope when he came to Miami in 1988, and I enjoyed going to Panama in 1992,” Meneses recalled. “And then I was activated again in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew came through.”

Meneses, his wife, Marycel, and sons, Alfred, 6, and Eric, 4, reside in the Lakes of the Meadows area of Miami-Dade County.

A native Miamian, Meneses attended elementary school and high school at the Inter-American Military Academy, a private school located in Northwest Miami-Dade County, and graduated in 1986. After receiving a two-year degree at Miami-Dade Community College, Meneses went on to Florida International University and majored in English.

“I was captivated by literature,” he said. “I still remember a little book I read by Robert Penn Warren called Short Story Masterpieces. That was the first book that hooked me on literature.”

Meneses began teaching at IMA, his alma mater, long before he had his teaching certificate.

“I wanted to see if I liked the profession,” he said. “I knew after a year that this was what I wanted to do. But I also realized that in order to serve my students better, I needed to finish my education.”

Meneses graduated FIU in 1992 with a degree in English, although he has been teaching in the classroom since 1988, he said. He was a substitute teacher in Dade public schools, taught literature, English grammar and composition at St. Timothy’s Parish School, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and Paul Bell Middle School.

Meneses later returned to Barry University for his master’s in leadership and decided to make a slight career change, from teacher to educational administrator.

“I enjoy the classroom, I love it,” he said. “But this is what I want to do now. I want to be a leader. They asked me in assessment where I wanted to be in five years and I told them I wanted to be a principal.”