Michele Einspar comes from a family of educators.  Michele began teaching in 1992 in Escondido Union School District (EUSD).  As a teacher, Michele served students who were socio-economically disadvantaged, English language learners, and students with special needs.  Michele later served as Assistant Principal in Poway Unified School District coordinating Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) and English language learner programs as well as collaborating with staff to develop and implement English language learner, GATE and School Improvement plans.

Michele for three years served as director of EUSD’s McKinney-Vento program providing staff development and community trainings regarding the rights and needs of homeless students as well as connecting students and families to resources in the community that enabled students to be successful in school.  Her program was awarded a Golden Bell from the California School Board Association in recognition for achieving success with engaging and supporting homeless students and families in education.  She is currently working as an educational consultant.  She is assisting TIDES with grant writing and program development and working as a facilitator with iQUEST, an NSF funded program at CSUSM that provides professional development focusing on using technology as a tool for engaging students in science.

Michele has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from University of California, San Diego, a bilingual teaching credential from the University of San Diego and a Master’s of Science degree in Education Administration.  Michele also has a California Youth Soccer Association Nation D Professional license for coaching competitive soccer and has coached 4 teams to the state cup semi finals and 2 teams to state cup semi finals earning one state cup championship. In 2010 she earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership from UCSD’s joint doctoral program with CSU San Marcos.  Her passion for meeting homeless students’ needs led her to focus her study on identifying key resilience components in school districts that facilitated academic success for highly mobile students living in poverty.