When she first started considering her future educational career, Dr. Anna Vacca was told that women could not be administrators.

Now, Vacca is ending a decade of being Gardendale High School’s principal and is moving to a new career of supervising 25 north Jefferson County schools.

“I’ll be solving problems and working with principals so they can get what they need,” she said. “If somebody says they have to ‘call the board of education,’ I’m the person they talk to.”

Vacca became principal at GHS in 2000. In those 11 years, she’s seen scholarships reach an all time record ($3,340,247 total for the latest school year), expanding Advanced Placement programs and even a new campus. The new Gardendale High School was built as a result of a penny tax that went to the Jefferson County Board of Education; it is one of the newest and most advanced high schools in the county, thanks to an initiative by the board of education that ensured all penny tax high schools would be identical. The high school was the first penny tax school built in north Jefferson County.

“I’ve always enjoyed working there. I think the thing I’ve enjoyed the most is the positive attitude of the students and the community,” said Vacca. She added that some of her favorite experiences were when students would get excited about extra-curricular activities like band and choir.

Vacca said she knew she wanted to be an educator, and even specifically a principal, early in life.

“At the time, somebody told me females couldn’t be administrators,” she said. “So, I decided that I would train to become the best I could be. I got my doctorate and then was appointed to my first assistant principal job.”

Vacca will work with schools all over north Jefferson, including schools as far north as Pinson. Although she will work with Gardendale elementary schools, she isn’t supervising GHS as of now.

“I’m excited about working with a lot of different people,” she said. “I’m going to miss the Gardendale community, though.”