Jessica Rodriquez Bracey has been named principal of Northfield High School in Central Park beginning the fall of 2024.
During the coming 2023-24 school year Rodriquez Bracey, who is currently a principal resident at Northfield, will serve as co-principal with NHS principal Amy Bringedahl to provide her with valuable guidance and support in an apprentice-type of arrangement.
Bringedahl announced in early January that she would retire at the end of next school year. She has been principal since 2016 during Northfield’s first year. At the time there were 200 freshmen in the augural class. NHS now has nearly 1,900 students.
Brindedahl noted in her announcement that she is especially proud of leading Northfield to gain accreditation as an International Baccalaureate school, to build-out the Sandoval campus (shared with DSST-Conservatory Green HS) and growing a handful of sports programs to 24 CHSAA certified sports. She also cites success in establishing a multi-faceted visual and performing arts program and exceeding academic benchmarks as the school grew to its current enrollment.
Serving at Northfield now, Rodriquez Bracey is well versed in the school and its culture. She has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience in her 21 years in education as a former assistant principal, teacher on special assignment, teacher, athletic director, coach and paraeducator. She considers academic rigor and student engagement essential to meet the needs of diverse students. She also believes that strong community partnerships are a key factor in academic success.
Rodriquez Bracey was born and raised in Denver and resides in Green Valley Ranch with her husband James and daughter Nekoiya. She has a BA in speech communication from Colorado State University, a teaching certification and MA in curriculum and instruction from the University of Phoenix, and principal licensure from the University of Denver.
Away from work she said she enjoys spending time with her family, trying new vegan food, serving in a kindergarten children’s ministry and engaging in philanthropy with LatinasGive.
The hiring selection process was relatively brief starting a month and half ago. It was led by the Northfield Collaborative School Committee and Colleen O’Brien, executive director of the Northeast Denver Innovation Zone; NDIZ is a group of four IB schools, of which Northfield is a member, that is semi-autonomous from the school district. Any questions about the principal search and selection contact executive director O’Brien at colleen@ndiz.org.
(Editor’s note: The Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities produces cpednews.org. The foundation has awarded grants to Northfield High School for education programs and may do so in the future.)
