Giuliana Brahim promoted to Milpitas Adult Education principal

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Giuliana Brahim was promoted to Principal of Milpitas Adult Education (MAE)  after more than 15 years of work focused on empowering adult learners and promoting restorative education to incarcerated adults.

“I am truly honored to accept the nomination of Principal for Adult Education and Corrections Division,” Brahim said. “I am humbled by the trust that the Milpitas Board Members and Superintendent Cheryl Jordan have placed in me. Each of them understands and knows the importance of the Adult Education programs in the community and in the correctional facilities. I want to extend my commitment and support to all staff and to the community. Together I am confident that we will continue to move Adult Education forward. I am grateful and excited for this amazing opportunity!”

In her role as MAE’s Assistant Principal the last two years, Brahim has worked diligently to ensure that the Adult Education vision, plans, and actions align with the core values of the Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD) vision to “prepare students to go out into the world and make a difference as responsible citizens who are passionate about life and learning.”

“Giuliana has shown me since she first applied for the AP position in 2015 that she is one who can accept a challenge and live up to it,” Superintendent Jordan said. “Giuliana knows that education is hope, it is the key to equity, and has empowered many of our students in the Corrections and Ayer sites with the opportunity to better their lives. Giuliana demonstrates perseverance and grit, and I am proud to support her as she steps into this new leadership role.”

Superintendent Jordan announced Brahim’s new position during a July 12 staff meeting at Elmwood Correctional Facility, one of two locations for the Milpitas program, also housed at the Ayer Adult School at the District Office.

“Adult education is all about second chances and endless possibilities; it influences the future of families, predicts academic success of children, and broadens the chances of adequate placement in the workforce and the attainment of postsecondary education,” Brahim said.

She has spent the majority of her career, 13 years, proudly immersed in MUSD. She has brought awareness to the importance of adult education and correctional programs by ensuring opportunities for learning and growth to both classified and certificated staff through resources and professional development. In addition, Brahim has supported students and their families to assure student retention and high school graduation completion.

In the 2016-17 school year, there were close to 100 students total who completed secondary graduation requirements from MAE either by receiving their high school diploma through 190 credit hours of academic study in the independent study program or successfully passing the General Education Development (GED) test or High School Equivalency Test (HiSET).

“As our new MAE principal, Giuliana will continue the collaboration between our Pre-K through high school program leaders that has been established these past two years, and will seek ways to expand pathways to learning for adults and high school students through our membership in the South Bay Consortium for Adult Education, and our partnership with San Jose City College,” Jordan said.

Brahim began as a Spanish teacher at the IES Language Foundation in Pleasanton. From there, she taught English as a Second Language (ESL) at Samuel Ayer High School in MUSD for five years before leaving Milpitas briefly to teach ESL at Strategy for the Workplace in Redwood City and East Side Union High School District, and becoming an Administrative Assistant at Berryessa Unified School District. Brahim returned to MUSD in 2007, where she has successfully served as a teacher at the Elmwood Correctional Facility for Women and Program Specialist, Evening Administrator, HiSET Chief Examiner, and in her current role as Assistant Principal at Milpitas Adult Education. Since 2014, through MUSD, Brahim has also been a member of the South Bay Consortium for Adult Education, a regional coalition of 2 community college districts and 5 school districts with adult education programs working together to seamlessly transition adults to postsecondary education and economic upward mobility.

“Our district’s contributions are sharing the shared vision of the region’s adult education; there is ‘No Wrong Door,’” she explained. “The mission is to empower adult learners to achieve academic success and become financially independent to sustain their families and grow the local and state economies.”

Brahim is known for tackling challenges proactively through an unwavering, calm demeanor founded in vast knowledge and experience, strong communication, and an earnest, methodical, objective approach. Her colleagues have shared she is an equity-minded leader, who fosters the potential of every student and staff member using her strengths as as an advocate with unreserved support and an innate ability to anticipate issues with a growth mindset.

Brahim graduated from Anglo Americano Prescott School in Arequipa, Peru in 1979 and took select architecture and art history courses from the School of Architecture and Urbanism Lima in Peru in 1985 and Universidad de los Andes Bogota in Colombia in 1986, before earning her Adult Education credentials in ESL and Vocational Education from Metropolitan Education District in 2002 and 2007, respectively. In 2007, Brahim earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Educational Studies and her Master’s Degree in Learning and Technology in 2009 from Western Governors University.

The MUSD Board of Education is scheduled to ratify Superintendent Jordan’s recommendation for Brahim as the new Principal during its meeting on August 22.

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