Today, we are thrilled to profile the extraordinary Mary Cox, Superintendent, CORE Butte Charter School in Chico, California.
A third-generation teacher, Mary Cox grew up in a family where classrooms felt like a second home. From an early age, she knew teaching was her calling.
“When I was in kindergarten, and they ask you what you want to be when you grow up, I was the one who was like, I’m going to be a kindergarten teacher,” Mary said.
Mary began her teaching career at age 22 after completing an integrated credential program at Chico State. She taught kindergarten before transitioning to a literacy coach role, where she discovered a passion for supporting English learner families. For two years, she taught evening English classes to adults, helping parents decode the “academic language” used by teachers so they could better support and advocate for their children. This experience shaped her belief that education is fundamentally about relationships, not bureaucracy.
Discovering a New Kind of School
In 2004, while pregnant, Mary started looking for a job that allowed for flexible scheduling and her family. She accepted a part-time position at a charter school she had never heard of, Camptonville Academy, now CORE Butte Charter School.
“I walked into that position with a lot of bias around charter schools and homeschooling,” she said. Mary’s experience in traditional public schools had taught her that homeschool students often arrived behind grade level and her only frame of reference was “this negative lens that they were stealing kids from traditional districts.”
“Within a year, I absolutely fell in love with this alternative model of education,” she said. “It opened my mind to understand that every single learner has a path. And if we can help create that path for a learner in partnership with parents, there is really nothing more beautiful.”
Mary moved from teaching kindergarten to high school, taking on subjects like Spanish, algebra, and geometry. Her role expanded as she became the Associated Student Body (ASB) teacher, organized the school’s first prom and dances, developed the athletics program, introduced Future Farmers of America (FFA), and grew career technical programs. Students soon saw her as a champion for their ideas and a tireless advocate for new opportunities.
From Crayons to Calculus
“High schoolers are brilliant and one of the most underappreciated groups in our society,” said Mary.
Working closely with students sparked a bigger idea. She envisioned a high school built around flexibility, autonomy, and real-world experience. Her executive director encouraged her to explore it. In 2013, after a year of research, Mary opened CORE Butte’s hybrid high school program with 180 students. It now serves 400 students, with a waitlist of more than 200.
The school operates without bells, set schedules, or a closed campus. Students blend on-campus classes with online learning, dual enrollment, independent study, career technical education, and even courses at Chico State.
The school offers nine career technical pathways, including veterinary science, information technology, child development, sports medicine, and American Sign Language interpreting. Students apply their learning in real environments. Sports medicine students work on the sidelines of games. FFA students teach younger children about agriculture and animal care. Child development students tutor elementary students and run reading groups.
This cross‑age system creates what Mary calls a TK–12 continuum. “It is incredible to watch. Our kids are on campus, off campus, in classrooms, in the field, helping younger students, leading, creating, and building the skills they will need for jobs that do not even exist yet.”
It is, in Mary’s words, “revolutionizing our high school programs” while also preparing students for a future where career paths change quickly and personal responsibility matters more than memorizing content.
Stepping into Leadership
Mary’s three daughters each attend a different type of high school: CORE Butte, a performing arts charter, and a traditional comprehensive school. All three thrived. This is the point, Mary said. Success depends on fit, not ideology.
“My big thing is creating options and opportunity,” said Mary. “Every kid needs something different in order to thrive. And that might even change over time.”
From 2013 to 2016, Mary served as the high school principal, which she still calls her favorite job in the “whole wide world.” But when the superintendent left, colleagues pushed her to step into the role. She resisted. “I never aspired to be an administrator. I went into administration kicking and screaming.”
Yet, she accepted the position out of a feeling of responsibility to model what she had built. Today, 11 years later, she still serves as the superintendent. Relationships keep her rooted, and her work has been recognized by peers and educators.
Mary is a recipient of the ACSA Butte/Glenn Superintendent of the Year Award and ACSA Region 2 Outstanding Woman Leader. She received the 2026 Hart Vision Equity and Innovation Awards in 2026.
“We work really hard to ensure high-quality relationships among staff. When you build a culture people want to be a part of, you create longevity,” she said.
Mary’s team of 105 has exceptionally low turnover, which she attributes to the school’s leadership with transparency, trust, and shared values.
“Charters were created to innovate and share,” she said. “Hiding good ideas defeats the purpose.”
From the Classroom to the Capitol
Although Mary never imagined herself involved in politics, she has learned to tell her story and advocate for personalized learning in California. The political landscape for charters, she notes, has become increasingly complex and charged.
“I never, ever wanted to be a politician,” she said. “I did not feel it was something I was ever going to be good at. I was an educator at heart. But right now I am educating in a different way.”
She spends significant time meeting with legislators, committee staff, and state leaders. She brings students to the Capitol and invites legislators to campus to see the model firsthand.
“I am so passionate about opportunity,” said Mary. “If we are not sharing our story, then we are allowing others to tell it for us.”
Her approach is straightforward: tell the truth, show the impact, and remove the mystery. “We need to demystify charters,” said Mary. “For some legislators, it feels like this mysterious, mystical thing. We have to make it real.”
Her political work grew even more urgent after the Camp Fire, when the school lost a facility, and Mary became involved in statewide natural disaster recovery efforts. Sadly, 256 students and 12 staff members lost their homes in the fire. She now supports schools recovering from fires and other crises, including the Palisades fire, where she witnessed firsthand the tension between charter schools and traditional districts.
“It is a really interesting moment,” she explained. “Even while schools are recovering from natural disasters, politics still move. And sometimes they move in ways that do not make sense for kids.”
Mary maintains a strong, trusting relationship with her authorizer and local districts, which is rare in California’s charter landscape.
“It truly comes from transparency, not holding your cards too close,” said Mary. “Charters were created to innovate and share. That was the whole idea behind the movement.”
An Opportunity for Progress
She points out that California is entering a pivotal moment. Charter school alumni are becoming legislators, aides, and staffers. Their lived experience, she says, is powerful. It is really important that they are not hiding that they are charter school alumni. They need to own it and tell their story.
“I just firmly believe that we have to keep going. We have to keep honoring our students and our new student population,” she said. “We have to keep innovating. Because if we believe in kids, we cannot do anything less.”
Mary uses her position to push for an understanding and appreciation of nonclassroom‑based schools, which are often misunderstood despite serving diverse and complex student needs. She frequently testifies on issues related to accountability, renewal, independent study, and educational flexibility.
“We cannot allow anything to stop our ability to innovate and create in the classroom and in the school system.”