About Lucio
Lucio is a learner and a leader. Over the past 28 years, he has served as an elementary and secondary teacher, as an elementary school principal, as director of instructional technology, and currently as assistant superintendent. Lucio lives in Calexico, California with his wife and three children. He has benefitted tremendously from his family, mentors, colleagues and his personal learning network that have helped shape a rewarding career with students. His inherent understanding that the world is changing at a rapid pace drives his passion about learning. Not just embracing learning, but diving deeply into what does it mean to learn, how do you best achieve it, how can we best succeed in helping students learn and to build their capacity for success in these modern times. His willingness to share, to build, to innovate, to create, to collaborate, to present, and to mentor has provided him with the skills to lead.
About the Portfolio
This professional portfolio provides highlights of his leadership. The portfolio begins with his leadership roles with the educational non-profits the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and with Computer-Using Educators (CUE). The next section highlights his work with students and staff of the Calexico Unified School District. The portfolio concludes featuring his commitment to school safety, to promoting the school community, and as a designer of new learning experiences and his level of engagement with students, staff, and the parent community during his first year with the McCabe Union Elementary School District.
I have been a member of ACSA for 19 years beginning with my first year as an administrator. Being a member of ACSA was crucial in developing my capacity to lead. My involvement with ACSA transitioned quickly from member to an active role with the local charter. I have served in various roles including as the President of the ACSA Imperial County Charter from 2020-2022 and have since been elected as President-Elect for ACSA Region 18. As a member of the ACSA Imperial County Board, I have been part of coordinating various events for administrators from Imperial County and have been an active participant in its annual awards event that recognizes administrators, teachers and counselors from the county. My term as president started soon after the global pandemic began and I was instrumental in leading and planning to shift events that were traditionally held in person to hosting them remotely or in a hybrid format. This included the awards events for our county charter as well as the Honoring Our Own Event for Region 18, the Welcome Back Event, and various other events and activities that were specifically designed to support administrators during this challenging period. I also led our efforts in branding our charter which included establishing various logos to promote our work and services. Leading creatively and passionately, engagement and membership increased as well as the quantity and the variety of charter events. In 2018, I was recognized as the Technology Administrator of the Year for Region 18 which includes the charters from San Diego and Imperial County.
I’ve been a member of CUE for over 20 years. After benefitting tremendously from professional learning experiences as a member, in 2016 I began to take an active leadership role within the organization. First I worked collaboratively with local technology leaders to establish the Imperial Valley as an affiliate of CUE and served as its first president from 2016-2019. In this role, IVCUE hosted various professional learning experiences for educators from across the Imperial Valley working in collaboration with several different educational organizations. Despite the fact that this educational non-profit began with no money in its budget, under my leadership, it was able to host quality professional learning experiences while it began to generate and establish a healthy budget. My leadership was recognized by CUE when it awarded the first ever Affiliate Leader of the Year Award in 2019. I was then elected to the CUE Board of Directors where I served from 2019 to 2022. I continue to be an active member of the CUE community and I look forward to continue making positive contributions as a member of this organization.
Video produced by ALAS Media in recognition of CUES’s first ever Affiliate Leader of the Year Award in 2019.
Video highlights of my leadership roles with ACSA.
Video highlights of my leadership roles with CUE
I cherish and I am grateful for the rewarding experience I had serving the Calexico Unified School District for 26 years as a teacher, principal and as the director of instructional technology. I served many roles as a leader in the classroom, at the school level and at the district office. Throughout my career, I was highly recognized in the area of educational technology, creativity and innovation. As a classroom teacher I provided lessons enhanced with advanced technology tools with students as young as second grade on regular basis and provided the first video conferencing learning experiences for students in the Imperial Valley in the early 2000s. At Jefferson Elementary, I began my principalship at the time that the school was labeled as the lowest performing school in the county. Under my leadership, the school began a journey of continuous growth in academic achievement and leading the way in use of technology in the classroom while navigating the negative impacts of the recession of 2008 and the 7.2 earthquake of April 2010. Under my leadership as the director of instructional technology, the district experienced a huge increase in access to technology for students and staff eventually becoming a one to one district with iPads for students in TK-8 and a MacBook Air for all high school students. I designed and led ongoing professional development for over 200 teachers and built capacity with a team of tech leaders to support trainings district-wide. This was in addition to my work with classified staff, administrators, and working directly with students. My work with students included project-based learning units and designing and coordinating summer technology academies in grades K-8. I also had extensive experience engaging with the parent community. Below are just a few videos highlighting my work with students and staff at CUSD.
This is the culminating activity of the Learning with Weather Balloons Project-Based Learning Unit with various students and teachers at César Chávez Elementary School
Ed Tech Academy that I designed, coordinated and presented for 4th grade teachers at Calexico Unified School District featuring a focus on SEL and Creativity.
Video highlights of a Project-Based Learning Unit with Rockets at Jefferson Elementary in April 2022.
It has been an absolute pleasure serving this year as the Assistant Superintendent for the McCabe Union Elementary School District. I quickly fell in love with the students, staff, and community of the district. I feel proud about the work that I have done this year leading the district in school safety, working with and supporting all of the departments, and presently leading the process to complete the LCAP for the 2023-2024 school year. It has been an exciting and important year in enhancing school safety for the district. Beginning with the installation of the security cameras and the process leading up to the current installation of the new Emergency Notification System. In between those two big projects, under my leadership we have completed a very thorough update of the School Safety Plan, coordinated a Physical Security Assessment and the implementation of its recommendations, and I have led with a consistent focus on improving our emergency preparedness.
This year provided a preview of my skill and of my willingness to create new experiences and new community engagements for the district beginning with the Starbucks with the Superintendent that was held as a Meet-and-Greet with new staff, serving as a keynote speaker during the Board Breakfast/Welcome Back Event, Celebrating International Dot Day, and the Fall Astronomy Night. I have also taken the opportunity to promote, celebrate, and highlight various events throughout the year by producing short videos for various school events and for PTO. Below is a selection of these videos.
This video highlights the reunification portion of our Full Lockdown Drill.
Thanksgiving Day Celebrations at McCabe
Video recap of the first day of school at the McCabe Campus for the 2022-2023 school year.
Video Highlights from McCabe Olympics Day 2023
Video highlights from McCabe’s PTO Halloween Carnival 2022.
Daddy Daughter Dance 2023 Coordinated by McCabe PTO.
Video summary of McCabe’s Family Astronomy Night on October 12, 2022.
McCabe students getting ready to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day.
This video highlights the Meet & Greet with new staff at McCabe while enjoying Starbucks with Superintendent Dubbe just before the start of the 2022-2023 School Year.
McCabe Celebrating International Dot Day 2022