With a history that began over a century ago, Cherokee Central Schools continues a commitment to educating its students and preparing them for the 21st Century. This year, Cherokee Central Schools, began the search for a Superintendent. After a long process, Cherokee Central Schools wishes to welcome Jimmy Arispe.
Jimmy Arispe
“I’m very pleased to welcome Mr. Arispe to our community. He has the 21st century educational leadership skills that we were looking for, and he brings enthusiasm, energy and love of students that we were looking for to lead our school system to the next level” says Director of Education, Joyce Dugan.
Arispe has a varied background in education. He began his career as an elementary school teacher, served as an Assistant Middle School Principal, Middle School Principal, Assistant Superintendent, and President and CEO of the National Coalition for Exemplary Schools.
Arispe has experience working with the San Carlos Apache, White Mountain Apache, Oglala Lakota Sioux, the Navajo Nation and the Tohono O’odham. He has worked to create a Student Leadership Conference which exposed over 25,000 underserved students to 30 different college campuses in 9 states. Arispe has assisted a Native American high school double its number of graduates in 3 years. He has worked to create a Native American Leadership Institute for high school boys at Arizona State University and is the recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. award for outstanding service to a Georgia community.
Arispe stated, “I am extremely excited and humbled to be the superintendent of Cherokee Central Schools.”
His vision for Cherokee Central Schools is for it to become a national model for Indian education. He has exceptionally high expectations for both students and staff and believes that 100 percent of Cherokee Central students should graduate, with no exceptions.
“I will settle for nothing less than 100 percent of our students reading by 3rd grade. I will settle for nothing less than 100 percent of our students receiving a high school diploma. Anything less will be a failure on my part. I look forward to meeting the parents, students and community members of Cherokee in the near future. Please don’t hesitate to contact me as I am a servant for this community and the children of Cherokee.”
Cherokee Central School’s mission is “to empower our students, preserve our nation, and ensure our future.”
– Cherokee Central Schools
