Martha Jaureguizar- MDCPS
I invited Beatriz Martinez Penalver from Triumph Steps because of her profound expertise and valuable community work in this capacity, to provide essential professional development to approximately 60 of our educators and select participants from the South Region Exceptional Student Education Office a one-day workshop so we could frontload valuable information with our personnel before we made this a priority for our young learners.
This PD was an invaluable component of our School Improvement Plan then, and has been incorporated every year since that initial implementation as a result of its significant alignment to students’ wellbeing as well as academic success.
Our schoolwide achievements are truly evident with our highly diverse demographics: 98% Hispanic Learners, 83% Economically Disadvantaged, 35% English Language Learners, 18% Special Education students and many overlapping demographics. KLE is a high performing, School of Excellence by the Florida Department of ranked overall ranked Title 1 School within Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS). During the 2019-2020 school year, we were also recognized as the Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ Values Matter Miami District School Winner for KINDNESS. These accolades are aligned to the implementation of this phenomenal SEL program alongside our outstanding academic programs/initiatives.