Namesake

Dr. Linda G. Mora was the oldest child of four born to Conrado and Elvira Garcia in Raymondville, Texas during a time when a woman's choice of career was more limited than today. She also grew up in a bilingual household at a time when it was illegal to speak Spanish in public, especially in school.

Even though neither of her parents obtained a high school diploma, education was a priority in her household. "My dad was pushing college readiness before it became a thing"; Mora said.

Her neighborhood was filled with her relatives so she was constantly surrounded by aunts, uncles, and cousins.

"Raymondville is a small town so my childhood was pretty boring" she said. Her Aunt Tila was a good cook and seamstress and she took her under her wing after school, which may have been the impetus to her eventually becoming a Home Economics teacher.

After graduating from Raymondville High School, she attended Texas A&I (now Texas A&M) University in Kingsville receiving her bachelor's degree in Home Economics. She graduated in only three and a half years and student taught at King High School in the fall of 1967.

With a distinguished career of 48 years in public education, Dr. Mora served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and Curriculum Supervisor for students in Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco ISD, Corpus Christi ISD, United ISD, and Zapata County ISD.

She also served as Director of Accreditation, Assistant Commissioner of Governance, and Associate Commissioner for Accountability and School Accreditation with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), as well as Director of Statewide Initiatives for Region 13 Education Service Center.

She came to Northside ISD in 2002 as the Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, serving in that capacity until her retirement in 2016. She saw a lot of changes occur during her tenure including greater accountability and opportunities for students to succeed, increased emphasis on the importance of quality staff development, and the implementation of concept-based curriculum.

Mora also created the Office of School Improvement to provide direct support for target schools, and led the development and implementation of Curriculum Diagnostic Benchmarks (CDB's), the adoption of a curriculum management system, and the implementation of a multi-year roll out of differentiated instruction. In addition, she was instrumental in adding Academic Deans at all middle school campuses.

Dr. Mora has three children, twin daughters Patricia and Diana and one son, Sal. She is the proud grandmother of seven grandchildren ranging in age from 12 to 23 years old.