Ariana Valenzuela

Ariana Valenzuela is a Senior Associate Partner on the Innovative Public Schools team. Prior to joining NewSchools, Ariana served as the Director of Innovation for Spring Branch Independent School District in Texas where she led the district’s strategic initiative to personalize learning for every child. This was done through a year-long redesign process anchored in design thinking. Within this role, she had the opportunity to work with school teams, district leaders, and community members to ensure the successful design and implementation of innovative school models.

Ariana began her career as a classroom teacher and school administrator in Houston Independent School District (HISD) and KIPP Texas. In HISD, she designed and launched a personalized learning microschool anchored in a reimagined student experience which included the flexible utilization of curriculum and time, project-based learning, and robust social-emotional supports. Ariana holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Boston University and an MBA from Rice University. In her free time you can find her exploring the Bay Area with her family.