Dr. Adriana Chavarín-López currently serves as a Strategy and Instructional Support Officer in the San Diego Unified School District. Dr. Chavarín-López is the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents that always stressed to her the value of an education. Inspired by her teachers and principal at Harborside Elementary School (Chula Vista, CA), Adriana knew from an early age that she wanted to be an educator. Adriana obtained her teaching degree from the University of Southern California and became a bilingual teacher in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Seeking to have a larger impact on students’ lives, she obtained her M.A. in Education Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University and an Early Childhood Management Certificate from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Believing that the purpose of education is to educate the whole child, as a school principal Adriana led the development of a number of school-wide initiatives, including art, music, yoga, and an award-winning school garden education program. In preparing students to be global citizens, Adriana was at the forefront of implementing an Apple Distinguished 1:1 iPad program, a social and emotional curriculum and a dual language immersion program. Knowing that schools cannot do the work alone, Adriana fostered community partnerships with foundations, businesses and local government to improve academic and social outcomes for students. She also facilitated the process for parent leadership teams to collaborate on common goals, always with a focus on educating all children.
Adriana obtained her Doctor of Education Leadership degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where her doctoral studies focused on designing and implementing systems and structures for transforming prenatal-12th grade education in school districts. She was a recipient of Harvard’s Education Entrepreneurship Fellowship for her work on redesigning early childhood education in San Diego.