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Principal Martinez comes to
Carpenter
Avenue Elementary with more than 18 years of experience in the Los
Angeles Unified School District, the last few years of which included
serving as Assistant Principal at two schools with vastly different
populations and challenges. His latest position was with Langdon
Avenue Elementary, which happens to be the lowest performing school
in District 1; prior to that, he was APEIS at Balboa Magnet
Elementary, which is the highest performing school in the entire
district.These experiences
represented a stark
contrast in daily priorities. In both, however, Mr. Martinez strived
for the same outcome: making school a rewarding experience for all
students so they can become academically successful,
confident,
and responsible individuals.
Mr. Martinez’ previous
experience
includes administrator and math coach positions at Primary Academy
for Success in Panorama City and Gridley Street School in San
Fernando. Before entering administration, Mr. Martinez taught third,
fifth and sixth grades for nine years. He also became a certified
LUCIMATH instructor and facilitated parent education classes at
various schools throughout Los Angeles (and even conducted the
majority of them in Spanish!).
Mr. Martinez is an adept
multi-tasker
with responsibilities and achievements too numerous to list. Some
career highlights include:
Implementing music
appreciation week at Balboa where over a period of three weeks,
students were exposed to various genres of music before and after
school and during lunch;
Serving as school
webmaster at both Langdon (www.langdonelementary.com)
and Balboa, where he also conducted professional development in the
area of computer technology for faculty;
Working closely with
the district on the construction of two new Anne & Kirk Douglas
playgrounds, a state-of-the-art computer lab, and reading garden at
Langdon;
Orchestrating a plan
with teachers and support staff to prepare kids for the CST – which
included school wide practice times, CST parent meetings, student
rallies, and creating motivational short films for students;
Initiating an “Active
for Life” partnership between Northridge Hospital and Langdon, to
motivate school staff and parents to get healthy and exercise on a
regular basis;
Creating an annual Shakespeare Festival at Gridley Street School; and
Fundraising over $30,000 to take his 5th grade class to Washington D.C.
Martinez holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Loyola Marymount University, has a master’s degree in elementary education from Cal State Northridge, and studied abroad in Switzerland and in Madrid, Spain, where he mastered Spanish and learned to love tapas. Martinez is married with two children (Nicolas, 14 and Sofia, 9). His wife (Carmen) is also in education, teaching kindergarten at Bertrand Elementary School in Reseda.
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Avenue Elementary School A California Distinguished School  |
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