Giuliana Brahim was promoted to Principal of Milpitas Adult Education (MAE)  after more than 15 years of work focused on empowering adult learners and promoting restorative education to incarcerated adults.

“I am truly honored to accept the nomination of Principal for Adult Education and Corrections Division,” Brahim said. “I am humbled by the trust that the Milpitas Board Members and Superintendent Cheryl Jordan have placed in me. Each of them understands and knows the importance of the Adult Education programs in the community and in the correctional facilities. I want to extend my commitment and support to all staff and to the community. Together I am confident that we will continue to move Adult Education forward. I am grateful and excited for this amazing opportunity!”

In her role as MAE’s Assistant Principal the last two years, Brahim has worked diligently to ensure that the Adult Education vision, plans, and actions align with the core values of the Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD) vision to “prepare students to go out into the world and make a difference as responsible citizens who are passionate about life and learning.”

“Giuliana has shown me since she first applied for the AP position in 2015 that she is one who can accept a challenge and live up to it,” Superintendent Jordan said. “Giuliana knows that education is hope, it is the key to equity, and has empowered many of our students in the Corrections and Ayer sites with the opportunity to better their lives. Giuliana demonstrates perseverance and grit, and I am proud to support her as she steps into this new leadership role.”

Superintendent Jordan announced Brahim’s new position during a July 12 staff meeting at Elmwood Correctional Facility, one of two locations for the Milpitas program, also housed at the Ayer Adult School at the District Office.

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Hanna Asrat will become Assistant Principal of Burnett Elementary School after an 11-year career in education.  

“I am thrilled to join the Burnett and MUSD communities and am anxious to begin serving the students in Milpitas!” she said.

Asrat began her career teaching both second and third grades at Briarwood and Pomeroy, two kindergarten through fifth-grade schools in Santa Clara Unified School District. As she grew as an educator, Asrat “learned the art of teaching, the skills necessary to plan and deliver lessons and units intentionally developed to support the learning of all students, and the value of collaboration,” she said.

“I’m thrilled that we have hired Hana Asrat as our Assistant Principal for Burnett,” Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said. “Even knowing the potential for budget reductions and savings through a return to the shared elementary AP model that we had, Hana still said, ‘YES!’ to our offer for employment.”

Asrat served as a mentor teacher for three student teachers and served as a member of her school’s leadership, School Site Council, and PTA teams.

“My work with student teachers is when I discovered that I truly enjoy facilitating adult learning,” she said. “That, coupled with a desire to contribute to systemic change for the students most in need, is why I began working at Partners in School Innovation in 2014.”

Asrat has worked at San Jose-based Partners for three years, supporting teachers, instructional coaches, and principals to implement research-based practices that transform schools. She has also honed her skills as a facilitator of adult learning, coach, and leader, bettering her abilities in speaking about race, culture, and identity, and how these factors influence educational outcomes for students.

Carlton Stice, Principal of Calaveras Hills High School (commonly referred to as Cal Hills), says math and engineering teacher Sridaya Mandyam-Komar has been a strong advocate for building student pathways since joining the continuation school in fall 2015.  

“Sridaya works so hard and is open to bringing our students great, out-of-the-box types of opportunities,” he said. “She has developed a course in engineering that now has approximately 60 alternative education students turned on to engineering in a powerful way that could change the trajectory of their lives.”

Because of Mandyam-Komar’s ongoing dedication, Stice said it came as no surprise when the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) recently selected her as one of three winners in its Texas Instruments Innovations in STEM Teaching Awards.

“When I was selected as a winner, I felt genuinely happy for Cal Hills and what we represent,” Mandyam-Komar said. “Seeing that my students were curious about STEM and how some of them had started to map out their future in STEM careers was reward enough for me. This award makes this reward even sweeter.”

Mandyam-Komar will be honored at the 48th annual Teacher Recognition Celebration, presented by the SCCOE, at 7 p.m. on September 14 at the Heritage Theatre in Campbell. Along with the STEM honorees, the event will also recognize 32 accomplished educators, selected from their respective districts.

Mandyam-Komar credited the vision of Principal Stice and dedication and persistence on her end to create an engineering course at Cal Hills, which has gained her the recognition.

“As our students are primarily here to recover credits, it was not very clear how this would pan out,” she admits. “It is gratifying to see that our students rose to the occasion and persevered to finish the course with success.”

She added her students have benefit immensely from the generous funding for the engineering program. Mandyam-Komar has been able take them on field trips to The Tech Museum of Innovation in downtown San Jose and local universities, along with bring in a guest speaker, all of which has provided access to career and college options. The support has also allowed them to have a fully equipped computer lab and 3D printer, to enrich their everyday coursework.

“I have been fortunate to teach at a school and district that value risk taking and innovation,” she said. “​​Bringing the engineering course to Cal Hills has definitely made me see myself as a powerful catalyst in sparking student interest.”

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Together, we can ensure our educational system embraces its responsibility to our youth, city, and future community of Silicon Valley.

Please email Lori Porter at lporter@musd.org if you are interested in attending.

New to summer offerings this year were the Elevate math program and Summit Extended Learning Opportunities. The Elevate math program was offered to incoming ninth grade students in an effort to increase their math proficiency in high school. The Summit Extended session provided students with an opportunity to complete focus areas by completing associated content assessments. Finally, MUSD once again offered an enrichment program for Elementary school children this summer.

Graduation for high school students will be held on Wednesday, August 2 at 4:30 p.m. in Board Room 500 at the District Office, located at 1331 E. Calaveras Blvd. The summer school presentation to the Board will be held on Tuesday, August 22 in the same location.

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