Matthew Nagle for Palo Alto School Board

I am an educational leader with 30 years of experience, including 16 successful years as a TK-8 principal dedicated to maintaining high achievement for all students, including all of our Latino and Black students who should share in Palo Alto's success. During this current educational crisis, Palo Alto needs experienced leaders on its school board.

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I also have a personal interest in this race. My son Matteo is a freshman at Gunn High, and he is serving as my campaign manager. My wife, Claudia Peñaloza, is a dual immersion teacher at Escondido Elementary, and exemplifies the talented teachers of Palo Alto. My daughter Anais (in top newspaper photo) is a junior at Yale, an alum of Escondido and Terman Middle. I am currently a grad student in the Doctorate for Educational Leadership for Social Justice program at CSU East Bay. All four of us are participating in distance learning.

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My role as a board member is to advocate for all children, especially our students who are not sharing in the school success that the majority enjoys. I intend to let the staff do their jobs and focus my energies on the one employee I supervise, the superintendent.

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I see that the other candidates are asking for $30,000 each. I ran a successful campaign for nothing in another county in 2015. Many Palo Alto families are actually struggling financially, so the only donation I am asking for is your vote. If you still want to donate, I encourage you to donate to some of my favorite organizations below:

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--East Palo Alto Tennis & Tutoring program, (my wife and I both taught here 20 years ago)

--Dolores Huerta Foundation, (to honor my grandparents, Manuel and Margarita Cervantes, farmworkers who valued education)

--Daraja Academy for Girls in Kenya. (my daughter has dedicated the last six years to this cause, even visiting the Daraja students in Kenya last year)

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Thank you!