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Longtime Educator, Board Member Dr. Judith Docca Passes Away

Dr. Judith Docca, who spent almost four decades as a teacher and principal with Montgomery County Public Schools before serving on the Board of Education, died Aug. 9.

The resident of Montgomery Village served four terms on the board and was once its vice president. She began her career at MCPS as a Spanish and French teacher before becoming an assistant principal at Montgomery Blair High School and then principal at Argyle Middle School. She also was a human relations coordinator.

Argyle’s Media Center is named in her honor.

Councilmember Will Jawando called her “a lifelong advocate for Montgomery County youth.” In a post on X, Jawando wrote, “We are perpetually indebted to her, a payment we will attempt to make through our own continued diligence as we work to serve our students and families.”

Retired Montgomery Blair High Principal Renay Johnson wrote on social media that Docca was “a champion for children.”

Fellow Former School Board Member Jeanette Dixon called her “a tenacious advocate 4 all students.”

In June, she was honored as a county Living Legend.

She served on the Maryland Association of Boards of Education’s Black and Hispanic Caucus and was an officer, education chair and youth council sponsor of the NAACP. She has been president and treasurer of the Montgomery County Alliance of Black School Educators and was a member of the Hispanic Educators Association and the Asian American Educators Association.

She was active with the Lincoln Park Historical Foundation.

While on the board of education, she chaired the communications and public engagement committee and served on the special populations committee. She fought hard to save the Montgomery County’s Head Start program.

Gov. Wes Moore appointed her to the Montgomery College Board of Trustees.

She received a bachelor’s degree in romance language and literature from Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree in romance language and literature and a doctorate in Education Administration from George Washington University.

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