Colleen Wilcox serves 32 school districts with 300,000
students
Staff Report
Gilroy – Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools Colleen Wilcox will speak at the Elks Lodge here at 1pm Tuesday.
As the county superintendent, Wilcox serves 32 school districts and a total student enrollment of more than 300,000. She oversees a $250-million budget and staff of more than 1,700 employees.
Before beginning her tenure with the Santa Clara County Office of Education in 1994, Wilcox served as a superintendent in the Chicago area. During her 30 years of experience in education, she has held positions in speech and language pathology, teaching and administration.
Wilcox earned a doctorate from the University of Southern California, a master’s in speech pathology from the University of Arizona and a bachelor’s in speech and hearing sciences from the University of Iowa. She served in the Peace Corps and is the author of numerous professional articles. She has also illustrated two children’s books.
Wilcox is the founder and advisory board co-chair of Silicon Valley Reads, a community-wide reading program for young people and adults. She also initiated Fit for Learning, a county-wide program designed to combat childhood obesity and poor health.
In 1999, Wilcox was selected as the California Superintendent of the Year and received the Woman of Achievement Award from the Women’s Fund. She was also inducted into the Silicon Valley Business Hall in 2004 and received the John D. Crummy Award from the Santa Clara Valley YMCA in 2005.
The lodge is located at 2765 Hecker Pass Road.
