Dr. Emma Violand-Sánchez left Bolivia in 1961 and moved to Virginia at 16 to attend high school without her parents. She received a scholarship to study at Radford University and earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Later, she completed her doctorate from George Washington University. Dr. Emma Violand-Sánchez was the first Latino teacher in Arlington and later became the first Latino member of the Arlington County School Board. Dr. She spent her career advocating for support and resources for the Latino community in Arlington and beyond.
In 1976, Dr. Emma Violand-Sánchez was employed by the Arlington Public Schools to work as a bilingual resource teacher at Key and Patrick Henry elementary schools. This happened at a time when Superintendent Larry Cuban was responding to national court decisions that mandated schools to invest in English as a second language instruction. While there she brought greater education access to students in Arlington Public Schools as the Supervisor of English for Speakers of Other Languages/High Intensity Language Training (ESOL/HILT) Office, Pre-K–grade 12.
