Today, we are honored to share the story of Rhonda Baldenegro, Executive Director at Gabriella Charter Schools.
Rhonda Baldenegro stepped into her role as Executive Director at Gabriella Charter Schools following the retirement of founder Liza Bercovici, previously profiled on CharterFolk. Her appointment marks the culmination of a long-standing passion for community engagement and the arts.
“I think all the pieces came together in the way my career sort of unfolded,” said Rhonda.
As a college graduate, Rhonda planned to attend medical school. But after earning her degree, she was overwhelmed by the idea of four more years of school. She began asking herself a deeper question: What would meaningfully serve her community?
A first-generation college graduate, Rhonda’s mother worked as a custodian and her father worked as a machinist. Rhonda had grown up hearing that education opened up doors.
“My dad explained how education really sort of gave you agency and the ability to chart your own path,” said Rhonda. “I followed that model, and I benefited personally and professionally from really investing in education and using education as a lever.”
She joined the 2003 corps of Teach For America, hoping to remain near her hometown outside Gary, Indiana. Instead, she was placed in Los Angeles and fell in love with a new career.
Rhonda spent nearly a decade with the Los Angeles Unified School District, first as an elementary teacher and later as an instructional coach. While teaching in Historic South Central, she encountered the Shakespeare-based instructional model developed by Rafe Esquith. Inspired, she launched a Shakespeare program at her placement school where second through fifth-grade students performed complex works with remarkable confidence.
“I poured so much of myself into building that arts-based program for our gifted and talented students,” she said.
Her work gained notable attention, including an invitation from Tom Hanks for the students to attend a live reading with Keanu Reeves.
When TFA encouraged her to explore an assistant principal role at a small, dance-based charter school led by alumni, she was skeptical. But after visiting Gabriella’s Echo Park campus and meeting its students and founder, she felt something different.
A Mission Rooted in Dance
Gabriella’s origin story is profoundly personal. The school was founded in memory of Gabriella Axelrad, Liza Bercovici’s daughter, who passed away at age thirteen. An avid dancer, Gabriella’s spirit lives on in a school model that centers dance and movement as vehicles for academic and personal development.
Dance at Gabriella is not simply performance. For example, in classrooms where students learn about the digestive system, they may later choreograph the journey of food through the body in the studio. When studying ratios or systems of equations, they may explore mathematical relationships through rhythm and movement.
For some children, the impact is life changing. Rhonda recalls a student who entered kindergarten facing severe challenges and struggled with emotional regulation. Dance became his outlet, his incentive, and eventually his identity. By eighth grade, he had transformed and later earned admission to the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts. Before leaving, he told Rhonda that without dance, he did not believe he would be where he was.
Strength in the Headwinds
Over twenty years, Gabriella’s arts model has evolved. Early on, it reflected a conservatory-style approach. Over time, Rhonda and her team intentionally shifted toward a more student-driven, culturally responsive model. Today, dance instruction balances technical rigor with joy, voice, and identity. It asks not just, “Can you do this correctly?” but, “What does this allow you to express?”
The school has also faced serious external challenges. The pandemic struck just as Gabriella expanded to its second campus, creating strain at a vulnerable moment of organizational growth. Political headwinds and a difficult authorization climate added further complexity.
Recently, Gabriella endured a non-renewal decision from LA Unified, as highlighted by Jed. While the school is currently navigating, Rhonda believes that what could have fractured the community strengthened it. During their conflict with LA Unified, the school lost no students or staff members, and the community grew closer.
“We sharpened our tools and worked on the challenges that were before us, making sure that we really double down on some student learning initiatives, and that we really thought about facilities in a new way,” she said. “We thought about how we wanted to resource all the different programmatic components that we needed to.”
Most remarkably, she said the community held onto its joy.
“I’m shocked and at the same time, not surprised,” said Rhonda. “I’m just so proud of our community because we made it through a really tough time and we made it on the other end very quickly, actually feeling better about the work we do and being more strategic about what we’re doing.”
Collaboration with Others
Rhonda is also part of an informal coalition of small charter school leaders in Los Angeles known simply as “the Collaborative.” Formed during the pandemic, the group meets weekly without formal leadership, dues, or agenda. They troubleshoot operational issues, discuss policy shifts, and offer candid support.
Every Wednesday, they meet without an agenda, formal roles, or dues to share ideas, get vulnerable, and problem-solve everything from authorization to attendance to strategic partnerships. In a field where leaders are expected to be “masters of all,” the Collaborative offers something rare: honesty, expertise, support, and a shared belief that every child in Los Angeles deserves the best their schools can give.
“It’s one of my favorite meetings that I look forward to every week, and I know that I’m not the only one who thinks that,” said Rhonda. “This work is tough. It was never easy, and I don’t think I can certainly say it hasn’t gotten any easier.”
Rhonda explained that many issues are impacting their communities. She pointed to the harmful effects of immigration, which she said are hurting families. She also noted that last year’s fires had a direct impact on many of the communities they serve.
In addition, she emphasized the difficult climate surrounding charter schools and school districts, including co-location issues within Los Angeles. Beyond these larger systemic pressures, she added that schools continue to face the everyday challenge of supporting student ensuring they are effectively taught and able to learn.
“I think being able to lean on others to be very vulnerable, the group can get very vulnerable,” said Rhonda. “The group speaks truth, so sometimes says the thing that needs to be said to individuals, as needed to be, or to the group. And I don’t think there are many spaces professionally where you can really let down your hair and just be that honest and expect the truth from people.”
Pride, Purpose, and What Cannot Be Outsourced
“We’ve gone through really hard challenges, and they’re not going away,” she said. “But we have so much to celebrate. So much joy. So much to be proud of.”
As enrollment pressures intensify and competition grows, she believes leaders must show up with clarity and conviction.
“Showing up with pride and love and being unapologetic about who you are, why you matter, and the impact you make every day— that’s something we have to hold onto,” Rhonda said.
At its core, she believes Gabriella offers something increasingly rare in modern education.
“I think about ChatGPT— kids don’t have physical books anymore. Everything is tablets and reading online,” she said. “But you can’t outsource dancing. You can’t outsource the way humans express themselves, how they experience the world, and how they learn.”
That humanity, she believes, is what makes the school distinct.
“There’s something deeply human about Gabriella,” Rhonda said. “It’s wonderful to be part of a place that feels so creative and alive— and to be within the broader charter community, which is so varied and inclusive. It’s truly a privilege, and not one I take for granted.”