San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools (SBCSS) Ted Alejandre, a Cal State San Bernardino alumnus, was awarded State Superintendent of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).
"I am extremely honored and humbled by this accolade," said Alejandre ’88 (bachelor’s in public administration) ’93 (master’s in educational administration). "I could not have achieved this recognition without the support and dedication of the staff at county schools, our students, families, community partners and the remarkable educators I've had the honor of working alongside throughout my professional journey."
With more than 30 years of experience in public education, Alejandre now holds the prestigious title of Superintendent of the Year in the 2022 Statewide Awards Program. The state award recipients represent the excellence and commitment of California's educators.
On May 2, Alejandre was honored as Superintendent of the Year for the San Bernardino Countyregion at the ACSA Region 12 Spring Celebration Awards.
Alejandre will be recognized for the State Superintendent of the Year Award at the ACSA Leadership Summit in San Diego on Friday, Nov. 4.
As county superintendent, Alejandre works collaboratively with educators, families, and other agencies and stakeholders to provide advocacy, leadership and services for and on behalf of more than 400,000 K-12 students attending public schools in San Bernardino County.
Among his many achievements, Alejandre was commended by ACSA for his contributions and collaboration with key partners to build, sustain and implement the San Bernardino County Cradle to Career roadmap. The roadmap includes key indicators of success for all students in both academics and social/emotional readiness. Districts and cities have adopted this roadmap, and as a result, graduation rates and other key indicators continue to improve.
To increase literacy rates across San Bernardino County, Alejandre worked with county partners to expand the Vision2Read initiative by launching the Footsteps2Brilliance learning platform that provides free access to tools for students to read, write and engage in key literacy skills.
He strengthened the countywide Family Engagement Network to gain input and recommendations from stakeholders. Due to the success of this network, SBCSS was selected by the state as the only county office to lead the Statewide Community Engagement Initiative, which established cohorts of school districts throughout the state that serve as models for all districts.
Alejandre emphasizes the importance of listening to student voice and creating opportunities for students to speak up. He established the first ever countywide Student Advisory Council, inviting students from high schools throughout the county to collaborate with students from other districts. At the culminating session, they presented recommendations to leaders at the local, county and state level that have influenced policies in the past.
In addition to his illustrious career in education, Alejandre is a highly decorated, retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel. He received the USAF Meritorious Service Award three times, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Force Good Conduct Medal and many other distinctions. He began his service in 1984.
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About the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
The mission of San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools is to transform lives through education. Working in collaboration with school districts, other agencies, families and our community partners, we provide leadership, advocacy and services to ensure innovative, inspiring educational practices for the 33 K-12 school districts within the county. This endeavor is essential to the quality of life and economic vitality of our communities.