A Spanish-speaking woman with more than two decades of education
experience is the new assistant principal of Brownell Middle
School.
Gilroy – A Spanish-speaking woman with more than two decades of education experience is the new assistant principal of Brownell Middle School.
The Gilroy Unified School District hired Monica Manriquez Aug. 1 to be second in command at Brownell.
The bilingual 45-year-old will be part of the new administrative staff, which has suffered large turnover during the past three years.
“In education, there’s a lot of changes all the time,” said the undaunted Manriquez. “We’re used to changes.”
Manriquez has more than 15 years experience as a classroom teacher, having taught in Santiago, Chile and South Carolina.
Most recently, Manriquez spent two years as assistant principal of Hayward’s Tennyson High School, which has about 1,800 students, while earning her master’s in educational leadership at California State University, East Bay.
Attracted by the district’s emphasis on data collection and analysis, Manriquez will step into a vacuum left by Stephen Owens, who left to become an assistant principal at a Petaluma high school.
As Owens came on board half way through last school year, Manriquez will become the third assistant principal in less than two years.
Brownell’s principal, Francisco Fuentes, is also new, having taken over in July for Joseph Di Salvo, now working in the district administrative office.
As Di Salvo lasted less than a year, Fuentes will be Brownell’s third principal in less than three years.
“When you come from outside, you have many different ideas,” Manriquez said.
“We’re trying to shape the school in a way that shows we have high expectations and want security on campus.”
Just two days after school has started, Manriquez is pleased with the students.
“They do not deserve the reputation they have,” she said, referring to Brownell’s image in the community of having a bullying problem.
“I’ve heard a lot of things but none of what I’ve heard is true. (Compared to) other places they’re very, very well behaved and very respectful.”
