Candidate for
Superintendent; Monterey County Schools

ABOUT RICARDO TÉLLEZ Engaging families - Involving Communities - Educating students!

• Ricardo Téllez was born and raised in Sanger, California, in the "Heart of the San Joaquin Valley". He is a descendent of immigrant farm workers and spent his childhood and early adult years working in the fields in Madera and Fresno Counties with his family.

• Mr. Tellez draws his resiliency, his high work ethics, and his values from his challenging early experiences in farm labor and from his caring, loving parents. These values are what drive his career ambitions today and his commitment to support an equal and equitable education for all children, families and communities.

• He is an alumnus of California State University, Fresno where he received his BA in Liberal Studies and earned his Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential and a Bilingual Specialist Credential. There he also received his Masters Degree in Educational Administration and Supervision. He completed his Professional Administrative Services Credential at California State University, Sacramento.

• Mr. Tellez' practical and vast administrative experience implementing and monitoring local, state and federal programs will serve as an asset and the necessary leadership for the Monterey County Office of Education. Combined, he has more than 24 years experience and knowledge of the very programs and services provided by the County Superintendent, such as Migrant Education and Head Start, two of the larger programs that serve more than 26,000 students in the county.

• Mr. Tellez has supported the development of programs that increase and improve the participation and leadership of parents and that provide parents with the tools to support their children's' education. As a parent of three school-aged children, he understands and lives the role of a parent with children in school. He knows first-hand the responsibilities a parent must have to support the education of their children.

• Served as the administrator for the Monterey County Office of Education for programs such as Head Start, Early Head Start, Dad's In Action and the USDA Child Care Nutrition Program for 8 years.

• Administered multiple funding sources with a direct line operating budget of more than 12 million dollars and continued to seek supplemental grants and resources to improve programs and services for children.

• Annually he has generated more than 3 million dollars of in-kind services from partnerships with schools, public and private agencies, volunteers and donations. One example is the partnership he has developed with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to provide aquarium visits for all Head Start centers 2 to 3 times per year to jump-start young children's knowledge of marine science.

• Has been responsible for a Department Staff of 180 employees and hundreds of volunteers in more than 27 school sites throughout Monterey County and for providing daily nutritious meals for more than 1,200 children.

• Developed a partnership with the Redevelopment Agency of Monterey to be the Head Start provider for a 2.5 Million dollar, 4,100 square foot state of the art "Child and Family Resource Center" in Castroville.

• Developed a partnership with the City of Salinas to be the service provider in a 6 Million dollar, 12,000 square foot facility derived from the renovation of the abandoned Employment Development Department building on Front Street.

• Partnered with Hartnell College to promote preschool-teacher workforce development through a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services for Head Start staff to receive their AA degrees.

• Developed an agreement with Hartnell College to recruit college students to be substitute teachers in light of a shortage of available substitutes.

• Established new programs such as "Dad's in Action" and the "Parent Mentor Program" to promote the involvement of fathers of young children and increase the capacity of parent and community leadership.

• Served and volunteered on many community and school advisory councils, boards, advocacy groups and organizations to promote positive community impact and support for services to children; The short list includes, Girls Scouts of Monterey Bay, Social Services Transportation Advisory Council, Under Construction Education Network, Child Care Planning Council, Hartnell College Early Childhood Education Advisory.

• Expanded and developed preschool services for children to prepare them to enter kindergarten ready to learn. Preschool has been identified as a critical factor in determining academic and life-long success and in narrowing the achievement gap. Mr. Tellez has successfully built strong relationships with providers and service agencies across Monterey County to accomplish this need. In his tenure he has served more than 10,000 young children to prepare them to enter kindergarten ready to learn as evidence by outcome-based assessment data and national assessments.

• As a public school teacher in California for children from diverse populations, including Gifted and Talented, Migrant Children, Children with Special Needs and English Language Learners representing more than 8 different languages.

• As a community college administrator who supervised college student teacher's assistants and teacher credential candidates through the California Mini-Corps Program and agreements with CSU Fresno.

• As a state and federal programs administrator and state consultant where he facilitated professional development for teachers and administrators and monitored the categorical program compliance of more than 18 County Offices of Education and School Districts for the California Department of Education.

• As State Consultant for Parent Involvement and Advisory Councils under the direction of the State Director of Migrant Education.

• As the state's Director for the Migrant Education Program Improvement Center providing training and conferences for county programs and school districts in California.

• As an independent consultant providing training to teachers in areas of language development through story telling and music.

Ricardo is a very dedicated family man who wants a quality of life for his wife and children. He and his wife of fifteen years, Stella Carmona-Téllez, live and are active in the Salinas community. Their three children, Alex (11), Valeria (7) and Sophia (7) attend school in the Salinas City School District.

Ricardo and Stella are very involved with their children in organized and competitive soccer and with their children's school activities as a family. All three of the Téllez children are avid soccer players.

Apart from his busy schedule as the Director of the Head Start Program and other community affiliations, Ricardo Téllez has actively participated as a Board Member for the Monterey County Futbol Club, and served as the Team Manager for the Firebirds United U12 Boys Competitive Soccer Club since 2004.

As Team Manager he actively supports the success of the team's organizational structure and player recruitment, and facilitates resources for the participation of underrepresented boys in the community.