Congratulations to Duscha Ross on being named the Director of Secondary Education, at the March 23, 2026, School Board meeting. Mrs. Ross came to Okaloosa County as a product of William Allen High School, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She received her military commission and bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University, her master's degree in Ed Leadership from University of West Florida, graduate studies at Harvard University in International Relations and Social Policy, and is part of the 2026 Chief Technology Officer training cohort with COSN Technology Consortium. After 11 years of service deployed to areas including Saudi Arabia, Germany, and Russia, she settled in Northwest Florida as a contractor and transitioned to this rewarding journey - teaching.
Her diverse portfolio as an educator began as a substitute, then in Alterative Education in the Department of Juvenile Justice in 2002, working with at-risk secondary students at Gulf Coast Youth Academy (GCYA) and the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program (ASAP). Within the traditional learning environment, she has taught as a Math Immersion / Remediation teacher at Pryor Middle School, a 9th,10th grade ELA /Math Teacher on Special Assignment (TSA) and mentor teacher at Crestview High School, a Project CHILD/ Gifted/ Talented teacher at Northwood Elementary School, and a Project CHILD team teacher at Mary Esther Elementary School, where she led the 2010 1:1 iPad pilot.
In 2013, Mrs. Ross was named the Okaloosa County School District’s Teacher of the Year and later served as the District’s Instructional Technology Specialist through 2016. She has most recently worked as Director, Reporting and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Services, where she coordinated Information Systems, Programming Services and district departments during the implementation of the FOCUS ERP. Throughout transitions in her many roles, Mrs. Ross has worked to support schools, educators, and families to benefit all learners. Among many quotes which guide her mindset, she would like to be known for modeling this quote from Gunnery Sgt. David K. Sibley, USMC - "Every day, you wake up and you go M.A.D. - Go make a difference."