Eddie Velez

Eddie Velez

Eddie Velez is the principal at John F. Kennedy High School, a PLC Model School in Fremont, California. He specializes in building PLC culture, implementing RTI, and creating equitable opportunities for all students.

Eddie has spent the majority of his 21 years in education working with marginalized students and finding supports and pathways for student success. His career has included developing successful gang-intervention programs at the middle school and high school levels, developing and implementing successful PLC and RTI systems into high schools, and developing equitable opportunities for traditionally underserved students.

Kennedy High School, for many years, was classified as an underachieving school. In 2014, Eddie led the school through a four-year transformation into a PLC culture. He also led the staff in developing a strong RTI model that is still in place today.

As a result of the PLC and RTI implementation, Kennedy High School saw an immediate change in student outcomes and positive culture. As such, the school and leadership received a number of awards and recognition for this work.

In 2016, Kennedy High School was named a California Gold Ribbon School for its focus on equitable programs for all students. In 2019, Kennedy was named a California Distinguished School for successfully closing the achievement gap for traditionally underserved students in multiple years.

As an educator, Eddie was named the Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) Teacher of the Year in 2017. As an administrator, he was named the Association of California School Administrators High School Principal of the Year in 2014 and again in 2020. He also received the FUSD Ann Lorde Award for Equity and Access in 2020.

Eddie is certified by the National Gang Crime Research Center as a specialist in gang prevention and effective gang-intervention programs.

Eddie earned a bachelor’s degree in history from California State University, Hayward (now California State University, East Bay), and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Santa Clara University.

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RTI at Work experts focus on learning for all students and will empower you to build your own timely, targeted, and systematic intervention program. Work with them to implement a results-driven program that provides targeted instruction at all tiers of intervention.

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Presentations by Eddie Velez

• Navigating Change Through Shared Leadership
• Creating a 3-Tiered System of RTI (Response to Intervention)
• Equitable Access for All—Why RTI Systems Create Equity
• Making the Time—Establishing RTI Time Within the School Day
• “Skill vs. Will”— Identifying and Developing Appropriate Interventions
• RTI Systems for Behavior
• Liberation Mindset—Creating a System of Equal Opportunity for Underserved Students