Pasadena Unified: Meet the New Principal of Willard Elementary

INSIDE OUR SCHOOLS

Maricela Brambila (Photo – PUSD)

Maricela Brambila has been named Principal of Willard Elementary, an International Baccalaureate School.

By News Desk

Maricela Brambila served as Assistant Principal of Pasadena High School from 2019 to 2021. Before that, she was Assistant Principal at Blair Middle and High School from 2011 to 2019 and served as the IB Middle Years Programme Coordinator. As a secondary English Learner program specialist in LADD from 2006 to 2011, she supported English learners and facilitated the committee that developed the International Academy at Blair. Brambila is an alumna of John Muir and the mother of PUSD students who attended Willard. She joined PUSD in 1994 as a bilingual instructional aide, and was an English teacher at Blair from 1995 to 2005.

“I would like to thank Dr. Baxter for her visionary leadership at Willard and congratulate her on her new position,” said Superintendent Brian McDonald, Ed.D. “Although we highly value the input of parents and staff in the selection of new principals, with the full reopening of the new school year just weeks away, we have to move quickly to appoint a new principal. I am pleased to appoint Maricela Brambila as principal of Willard Elementary, an International Baccalaureate (IB) School. Ms. Brambila is an experienced school administrator with strong experience in IB programs.”

Brambila said:

I have always had a profound respect for the great work of Dr. Baxter and the staff at Willard and I am honored to have an opportunity to continue and build on that work within the IB Primary Years Programme. As a former Willard parent, I have a great appreciation for the warm and supportive environment of the Willard community and I can’t wait to be part of the team that provides that to the current and future generations of Wildcats! I look forward to meeting, and learning from, our students, families, and staff, and most importantly, to an amazing school year!

Brambila replaces Dr. Angela Baxter who accepted a director position in another district.