Today, we are honored to introduce you to the extraordinary Danilo Juarez, Principal of Hayward Collegiate in California.
There is a version of Danilo Juarez’s life that could have ended in a police uniform. Another that ends with him trying cases in a courtroom.
Instead, each day starts with a coffee and a 7:30 a.m. huddle with the staff at Hayward Collegiate, where Danilo is in his second year as principal, before welcoming students to school.
“I also handle cafeteria duty by myself on Tuesdays with our first through fifth graders because it’s my chance to bond with the kids one-on-one,” Danilo said. “Most of the rest of my time is spent supporting teachers with curriculum and connecting with families.”
The school opened its doors in 2019, serving about 120 TK-1st graders. The following year, Hayward Collegiate joined the Navigator Schools network, which currently operates five schools in California. Today, Hayward Collegiate enrolls more than 300 TK-6 students from underserved communities in Hayward, empowering them to have agency over their lives and preparing them for college.
To understand what led Danilo to Hayward Collegiate, it helps to understand an experience that has shaped his perspective on education and service.
The Promise that Built a Principal
As a young man, he experienced the loss of his older brother to gun violence in Oakland. The experience had a lasting impact on him and shaped his desire to make a positive difference in the lives of young people and families.
“That really shifted everything for me,” he said. “I made a promise to him that I would do everything I could to keep that from happening to more families.”
Danilo studied criminology at Sonoma State University and received conditional offers from local police departments. Ultimately, he decided that law enforcement wasn’t the path he wanted to pursue and went to work at KIPP Bridge Academy in Oakland, which he previously attended as a student.
“Once I got those offers from the police departments, I immediately felt like it wasn’t the right fit for me,” Danilo said.
A few years later, while working as an administrator at KIPP Bridge Academy, Danilo was accepted to law school. He ultimately chose to remain in education, recognizing how much he valued the relationships he had built with students.
“I remember getting into law school and feeling very proud,” Danilo said. “I also realized pretty quickly that I couldn’t stomach being away from the kids I’d been working with for three years.”
Today, Danilo’s commitment to supporting young people extends well beyond the hallways of Hayward Collegiate.
Baseball as a Universal Language
Danilo was born in Guatemala and came to the United States around age eight, settling with his family in West Oakland.
Even though he couldn’t speak English yet, there was a baseball diamond across the street from his family’s new home, which gave Danilo the opportunity to bond with his new neighbors despite the language barrier.
“I remember learning to play that game before I even learned how to speak,” Danilo said. “Having to piece together and figure out where I needed to go and what I needed to do just from gestures and applying context was a great learning experience for me.”
After attending KIPP Bridge Academy as a student, Danilo occupied various leadership and administrative positions at KIPP Bridge Academy over the course of eight years. He credits his experience there for inspiring him to become a lifelong champion for charter schools in his community.
Danilo is continuing to champion charter schools as the principal of Hayward Collegiate as principal last year. He has also kept the promise to his brother by positively impacting youth in his community for more than a decade and counting. Danilo currently coaches a 13U and 14U travel baseball team alongside his own former coach.
“I had a coach who took me under his wing when I was that age,” Danilo said. “Now I’m the one helping him coach, so it feels like things came full circle.”
Teach the Skill, Don’t Punish the Gap
Ask Danilo what has shaped his leadership most, and he doesn’t hesitate to credit coaching.
Every single Monday, Danilo’s own coach is on campus for live walkthroughs and formal feedback. It’s weekly discipline he relies on and one he mirrors with his own staff too.
This same approach to teaching and mentoring also extends to his work with the students.
“As adults, we tend to go straight to punishment if the desired behavior is not there,” Danilo said. “When there’s a deficit in skill or behavior, we have to be ready and willing to teach, whether that deficit exists in the classroom, at recess, or at the grocery store.”
So far, the numbers support Danilo’s philosophy.
Continuing to Grow as a Leader
Last January, Hayward Collegiate’s interim assessments placed students in the high 30s to low 40s for overall math proficiency. Rather than wait for the spring test to confirm the problem, Danilo’s team pounced on that data immediately.
“We started providing intervention in math, specifically for the skills and standards where they scored lower,” Danilo said.
By the end of the school year, Hayward Collegiate’s third and fourth grade proficiency climbed into the mid-50s.
“We’re solid right now, but there’s still more work to do,” Danilo said.
Danilo strongly believes that education changed the trajectory of his life.
Despite already occupying a school leadership position, Danilo is eager to continue growing his skills so he can expand that impact to even more communities.
“I would love to be a CEO of a CMO one day,” Danilo said. “For me, being a principal and school leader is about developing skills and sharpening my ability to influence.”