During her six years as principal, Sophia Mendoza was always asked to put out fires. When Lankershim Elementary was in its fourth year as a Program Improvement school, Mendoza, who has been an educator for 22 years, stepped in to improve outcomes for a student subgroup that was repeatedly falling behind the learning benchmark. When she became principal at Haddon Avenue Elementary, it was to ease escalating tension and increase communication between teachers, parents and the community.