Pearl Arredondo grew up in Boyle Heights, an impoverished neighborhood in East Los Angeles. She was raised by a single mother who worked as a secretary in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Her mother witnessed firsthand the challenges that students face in public schools. To ensure that Pearl received the best education, she was bussed to schools almost an hour away from home. 

 

Pearl graduated from Pepperdine University, where she earned both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Education and Instructional Leadership. She was the first person in her family to graduate from college and began her teaching career at San Fernando Middle School, where she had been a student eight years prior. Pearl embraced the mission of enhancing educational opportunities for historically underserved students and launched the school’s Multimedia Academy, which provided services to 350 low-income students. After three successful years, the Multimedia Academy faculty decided to make a full split and become a separate school.

 

In 2010, Pearl helped lead an ambitious reform agenda through a pilot reform model focused on technology development, improving outcomes for children, and strengthening families. She and her team founded the San Fernando Institute for Applied Media (SFiAM), the first pilot school established in the Los Angeles Unified School District at the middle school level. Since opening its doors, SFiAM has shown success with increased test scores year after year. Pearl's story was highlighted as a TEDTalk Education segment in 2013, and she has since provided over 20 keynote addresses within the United States and globally.

 

Pearl is passionate about increasing student access to technology and closing the digital divide. She tirelessly advocates for a technology-based curriculum that prepares students to enter a global economy. Her goal is to make SFiAM a model of educational reform. Pearl has a Master of Science in Educational Administration, is recognized as a National Board Certified Teacher, and is a CAHN Fellow, which focuses on leadership strategies within education to improve community outcomes. She was also part of the 2013 Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellowship and serves as the Vice President of SFiAM’s Governing Council. She is featured in the short documentary film TEACHED Vol.1: “The Blame Game."

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In a recent interview with Jeff Rose, Vice President of Leadership Development at Cognia , she opened up about her journey and shared a detailed account of how her school has progressed over the past 10 years. She shed light on the challenges she has faced and the strategies she has employed to overcome them. Additionally, she talked about her future plans for the school and how she aims to take it to greater heights.