Zilkia Rivera-Vazquez has been offered the position of U-High’s assistant principal to begin in the 2021-22 school year.

Ms. Rivera-Vazquez is from Puerto Rico, where since 2019 she has taught history and economics at Commonwealth-Parkville School and was an associate principal at Saint John’s School, both independent schools in San Juan. 

Principal Paul Beekmeyer said, “Ms. Rivera-Vazquez is somebody who cares about teaching and teachers, and I think she is someone who willingly takes time to listen to and understand people. I think she’s going to be a great partner to join myself, Ms. Campos and the rest of the high school faculty.” 

The assistant principal is responsible for the high school academic program, including course registration, scheduling, advisory and faculty professional development. 

As part of her interview process, Ms. Rivera-Vazquez met with members of the high school Student Council and other student leaders, where she expressed her great interest in working with Lab’s creative curriculum and dedicated students, faculty and administration.

“I value academic independence a lot, and through my search, I saw that Lab values that highly as well, “Ms. Rivera-Vazquez said. “I want to be in a place where the students play an important role in the design of programs, activities and curriculum.”

Ms. Rivera-Vazquez will focus on making sure that student voices are heard at all times, especially when discussing issues such as diversity equity and inclusion. 

“To make [DEI] live in the school as a real thing, we have to listen to the students first,” she said. “The reason why I say that is because when you are creating programs from the administrator’s perspective, or even from the faculty’s, if you don’t know what the stakeholders want, need, and feel about those efforts, you can cause a lot of harm.”