Dr. Lora de la Cruz is deputy superintendent of Boulder Valley School District in Colorado, where she previously served as a teacher and principal. As deputy superintendent, de la Cruz has helped to close and narrow achievement and opportunity gaps across student groups.

Before returning to Boulder Valley to take on her current role, de la Cruz was superintendent of Lake Oswego School District, a system of 7,000 students outside Portland, Oregon. She served Lake Oswego from 2019 to 2021 and led the district through the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prior to that, de la Cruz was area superintendent in Aurora Public Schools in Colorado. Her work contributed to up to 130 percent growth across campuses and multiple schools being removed from state accountability watch. In addition, she helped to align all academic systems for coherent instructional infrastructure and led development of the district’s multi-tiered systems of support, dyslexia guide, and special education inclusion program.

The child of a Mexican immigrant, de la Cruz has a doctorate in education from the University of Colorado Denver, a master’s in education from the University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor’s from Texas State University.