Mariella Robledo, Principal of Escuela de Guadalupe, remembers calling her family in Peru 20 years ago, asking them to send textbooks written in Spanish.
“I called my sisters and said, ‘Please, can you send me reading books? Could you send me science books?’”
She was trying to put together a dual-language curriculum for her fifth graders at a time when publishers weren’t printing textbooks in more than one language.
“We didn’t have anything!” she laughs. “I was translating the existing books from English into Spanish myself. Oh and back then, we didn’t have the internet. We were just finding any resource we could. I was getting boxes and boxes of books from my family in Peru.”
Favorite Elementary and Middle School Principal
This year, Ms. Mariella (as she’s known around school) is celebrating 20 years at Escuela de Guadalupe, four years as a teacher and 16 years as Principal. She was also named the Favorite Elementary School Principal and Favorite Middle School Principal for 2024 by Colorado Parent Magazine.
In her time at Escuela de Guadalupe, Mariella has led an incredible transformation of the school’s unique dual-language program. Escuela, which started humbly in 1999 with a handful of children in kindergarten through 2nd grade, is now a thriving, growing school for Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade, sending biliterate graduates to some of Denver’s most prestigious high schools.
The story of Escuela’s growth matches Ms. Mariella’s growth as a teacher and as a school leader, resulting in a school model that others seek to replicate.
Founded on a Mission to Serve
Back when Escuela opened its doors in 1999, very few schools in the country were seeking to educate students in more than one language. That said, the founders of Escuela weren’t early adopters of the now-common effort to globalize education through multi-language curricula. Rather, they were simply trying to serve a population in desperate need of high-quality education.
“Our mission was the result of an organic process,” says current President of Escuela de Guadalupe, Michelle Galuszka. “A Jesuit priest and a Sister of Loretto simply wanted to serve the families of Northwest Denver better, and it turned out that the best way to do that was through a culturally sensitive, high-quality education.”
“Culturally sensitive” meant that the students’ own languages and traditions would be honored and celebrated, as they also learned critical thinking skills in a high-expectation environment.
Ms. Mariella was one of the first teachers hired at Escuela, back when the school was just getting started and figuring out how to successfully teach every subject in two languages – English and Spanish.
Please Send Textbooks!
And that’s when she started asking her family to send books written in Spanish.
“Everything we were doing was unique.”
Mariella Robledo, Principal
“Everything we were doing was unique,” says Ms. Mariella. “We were creating everything ourselves because no one else in the country was doing what we were doing.”
As word got out about the little school doing amazing things in Northwest Denver, Escuela started to grow. Likewise, Ms. Mariella’s role in the school also grew.
In late summer of 2009, she was named Principal, and seven days later, her second child was born. Teachers were getting ready to head back to school, followed closely by the students.
“I said, ‘Okay, we have to go to work,’” she recalls. “I took my baby to work with me the very next week.”
Ms. Mariella says her work ethic and passion for Escuela’s mission are the result of her upbringing in Peru.
“I grew up in a very close family,” she says. “I was always with my mom, my dad, my sisters, but also my cousins, and aunts. And they all placed a high value on education and working hard. That feeling of community is so important to me, and I think we have that at Escuela.”
She also says that Escuela’s families inspire her to work hard every day, because they are doing the same.
“Our families are very hardworking. Their desire to give their children a good education inspires me to work even harder,” says Ms. Mariella. “These families, many of them would not have an opportunity to give their kids a good education if Escuela didn’t exist. We have to work hard to make sure we meet and exceed their expectations.”
Meeting and Exceeding: Achieved
Today, Escuela serves as a national model for delivering high-quality, private, dual-language education to underserved communities.
Remarkably, Escuela students are biliterate by fifth grade and consistently outperform their public school counterparts in academic testing in both languages.
In fact, based on the most recent scores released by Denver Public Schools, Escuela students outperform most public school students across the state of Colorado.
Proficiency Rates, Grades 3-8
Reading:
- Escuela: 76%
- DPS: 40%
- Colorado: 43%
Math
- Escuela: 67%
- DPS: 34%
- Colorado: 33%
Further defying stereotypes of underserved communities, 93% of Escuela alumni go on to graduate from some of the best high schools in Denver, and 95% go on to attend college.
“Without a doubt, Escuela’s success is a testament to Ms. Mariella’s incredible work ethic, and her passion to serve this community,” says Galuszka. “It is an honor to work with her, to learn from her, and to help her celebrate 20 years at Escuela!”
