The West Aurora School Board this week approved two new administrators for the 2024-25 school year.
The board approved the appointments of Anabel Martinez as dean of students at West Aurora High School and Julie Noguez as assistant principal for teaching and learning at Washington Middle School.
Both appointments were made by West Aurora School District Superintendent Jeff Craig and approved by the board, and both are promotions from within the district.
Martinez has been a world language teacher at West Aurora High School for seven years. In addition to teaching Spanish courses, she has coached the girls cross country team, and organized celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month.
According to a district news release, Martinez’s leadership experiences include contributing to curriculum development, serving on the school’s improvement team and leading professional learning community meetings focused on enhancing the heritage Spanish program.
Before joining West Aurora School District, Martinez was a teacher assistant at Rollins Elementary School in the East Aurora School District for three years.
Martinez holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Carthage College and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the American College of Education.
“I am excited and thankful for the opportunity to move into this new role at West High and work with students in a new capacity,” said Martinez. “My years at West High have helped me establish strong relationships that I look forward to carrying into this new position.”
Noguez has spent the last two years as instructional resident at Herget Middle School in West Aurora School District, where she concentrated on improving professional learning both within the school and district-wide, according to district officials.
She actively contributed to Herget’s school improvement team, where she analyzed student behavior patterns and monitored student progress across the campus, according to district officials. Before that, Noguez spent 15 years teaching Spanish and social studies at Herget.
She also served as a cheerleading coach and has been involved in student and parent initiatives, district officials said.
She was honored with the district’s Striving for Educational Excellence Award in 2021.
Noguez has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Blackburn College in Illinois and a master’s degree in literacy, with an emphasis in bilingual and English as a second language learners.
“I am excited to be a part of the continuous journey of learning at Washington Middle School, fostering the development of both students and staff,” said Noguez.
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