Denise Cordova-Abbott

I graduated from Metropolitan State University, K-12 Physical Education and the University of Northern Colorado with a Masters in Educational Leadership. I was recognized by the UNC Cesar Chavez Cultural Center for Academic Excellence 4.0.

This is my 27th year in education. During this time I have been a secondary teacher, athletic coach, Dean of Students, Assistant Principal and Principal in very large and rural education settings. I am currently an ELA (English Language Acquisition) Instructional Specialist with the Denver Public Schools. I am passionate about working with families in high poverty and ethnically diverse groups of students. I have been on school leadership teams that have been recognized for Outstanding Academic Growth by the Foundations for Great Schools and Centers of Excellence Award. I have had other recognitions during my career in the Aurora Public Schools as an “Aurora Everyday Hero” and nomination for the television channel “7 Everyday Hero” for my work in the community and as an assistant principal.

Dr. Ron Cabrera

This is my 40th year in public education. While I did retire officially in 2017, I have been "actively retired" consulting, executive coaching, and filling various district interim positions because I find the work so stimulating and valuable.

My career, briefly, as a teacher I have been a middle and high school English/Language Arts and science (Biology and Life Science) teacher, a high school track and cross-country coach, a student activities advisor, and an ESOL teacher.

When I entered administration, I took a K-12 route, first into elementary education, as an elementary assistant principal for a year, then as an elementary principal in the Denver Public Schools and later in the Douglas County Schools.

I made the move to the central office as the director of curriculum and management, then left Colorado and went to the state of Washington to be the Executive Assistant of Integrated Learning Services: I supervised federal grants, state read, writing, and math intervention grants, at-risk strategies, summer school, English Language Learners, and eventually started the migrant education program.

Returning to Colorado, I became the principal Boulder HS. From there, I moved into senior leadership positions as assistant, deputy, and finally as superintendent of schools in the Thompson School District (Loveland, CO). I retired from the Boulder Valley School District as the Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services and Equity.

I have been fortunate in my professional career: lots of rich experiences and recognitions. Some of my "retirement" work includes being the interim Superintendent for the DPS and the Interim ELL Director for Adams 12 School District. Currently, I am embarking on turn-around work with the Adams 14 School District. I want to support them and help all our children find success.

It is a source of pride that I am a member of the Colorado Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents. We want to move leadership forward and increase students’ successes.

Bernadette Archuleta

Bernadette Archuleta is presently the Staffing Manager for the Douglas County School District, working as the talent leader with the district, she supports district wide initiatives for the recruitment and retention of teachers and support staff. She also worked with the Denver Public Schools as a part of the innovative Denver Teacher Residency Program.

Bernadette also enjoys working with HR leadership and the senior staff to identify, develop and implement strategic organizational effectiveness, employee engagement, and innovative talent management initiatives. She has significant experience in all aspects of HR; recruitment, retention, employee relations, change management, organizational development, project management, in a variety of industries, as well as a background in law enforcement with the Denver Police Department.

She currently holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice and a secondary B.S. in Environmental Resources, Land Use and Planning from Metropolitan State University of Denver and an MBA with an HR emphasis from the University of Phoenix.

Tara Peña

Currently, I am the principal at Oberon Middle School, a position I have held for the past six years. I am also proud to be the elected president of the Jefferson County Administrators Association (JCAA). JCAA is the professional association for Jeffco representing its 700+ school and central based administrators. Directly following my first year of teaching, I enrolled in a master’s program and earned my degree in Educational Psychology. I quickly returned to school again to get my principal’s license through the encouragement of my principal at the time, Mr. José Martinez. I have worn many hats in my career: teacher, counselor, dean of students, assistant principal, and now principal. I believe I have found success by staying true to who I am even when faced with adversity. I’m honest with people about where I come from when they ask because each experience has molded me into the person and educator I am. As the principal of a large suburban middle school, I get to affect change on a variety of levels. I constantly am leaning on my cultural resilience to help set a positive example for my students and staff. I get to teach, and lead, and learn daily. And, I get to be a role model for my community and, I hope, for my own daughters. That means a lot to me.

Tracy Gallegos

I attended the University of Northern Colorado where I earned a degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Bilingual & Bicultural Education. I decided to pursue a career that would allow me to empower the youth, so that I can be in a position to encourage all students, not just the ones that fit the social norms. As an undergraduate, I joined a non-profit organization called The Colorado Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) and served as a student representative on the board of directors. This led me to my first teaching job in Aurora, Colorado where I spent the first 8 years of my career working at Fletcher Elementary School. At Fletcher, I held several roles from a classroom teacher to a Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) helping with discipline & parent engagement. During this time, I earned my graduate degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Denver. After that, I decided to move back to the Western Slope so that I could advocate for students that grew up in a similar situation as I did. I worked 9 years as an Assistant Principal at West Middle School in Mesa County before taking my current position as a Regional Director for the Migrant Education Program.

Jeff Pierson

Career Highlights & Education

Bachelors degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney- Basketball scholarship
Masters degree/ Type D Licensure from the University of Phoenix.
23 years in Education (21 of them in High Schools)
Principal at Standley Lake HS - 2009-2018
JEFFCO 2018 Principal of the Year
Jefferson County Administrator Association President
Voted as an Outstanding Administrator/Partner from both FCCLA and DECA over the course of my career.

Dr. Boris Costa-Guerra

Career Highlights & Education
As a school administrator, I led the school team to create 90-day plans to turn around two schools. I progress-monitored student, teacher and administrator’s work to create action plans for the Instructional Leader Teams to create a data driven culture. This allowed teachers the ability to implement the action plans in their lesson plans and school administrators to coach, support and assist teachers. The schools saw significant results and presented our work at conferences at the National Association of Bilingual Education and Dual Language of New Mexico/La Cosecha.

My Doctoral degree is from New Mexico State University with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction and an emphasis in Assessment, Multicultural Education, and Information technology. I also have a Master’s Degree in Information Technology and a Bachelor's Degree in Bilingual Education. To further my education, I obtained an administrative license in education. My education background has allowed me to implement specialized knowledge in the K-12 setting. As a bilingual educator, I was able to be a part of the first dual language technology curriculum at the middle school setting in Las Cruces, New Mexico.