The Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) recently named Daisy Torres as the recipient of the 2022 ALAS Scholarship sponsored by Curriculum Associates. Torres, who works as the director of services for multilingual learners, dual and world languages at Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut, will receive $10,000 toward her doctoral degree in educational leadership.
“I am beyond honored and humbled to receive the 2022 ALAS Scholarship sponsored by Curriculum Associates,” said Torres. “The blessing of this scholarship will allow me to complete my doctoral degree in educational leadership at the University of Connecticut. My dissertation focus is centered around understanding the barriers, challenges, and implications for the lack of female Latina/x superintendents in our state, and I seek to provide solutions to increasing this critical leadership pipeline. In collaboration with ALAS and through my work as the president of the Connecticut Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (CALAS), I am thrilled to be able to add this important and much-needed research to the education field.”
Torres is an award-winning bilingual educator with more than 20 years of urban school experience at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. In her current role, Torres oversees programming and services for students in one of Connecticut’s largest school districts. Notably, under her leadership more than 400 students in Hartford Public Schools have been awarded the Seal of Biliteracy.
Torres is also leading efforts in the recruitment and retention of 14 teachers from Puerto Rico as part of an innovative Paso a Paso program to diversify talent in the district.
Prior to joining Hartford Public Schools, Torres was the director of bilingual, ESOL, world language, and parent engagement for New London Public Schools in Connecticut, where she created New London’s first-ever Parent University, launched Latinos in Action—a college- and career-readiness program for middle school students—and lead program development and design for the district’s magnet Dual Language and International Studies K–12 pathway.
Among her many other accomplishments, Torres published her first bilingual children’s book I’ll See You on the Bridge in 2019. She also received the Outstanding Educator Leadership Award from the CALAS in 2018.
Torres earned her Master of Arts in TESOL/Multicultural and Bilingual Education, Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, and a sixth-year professional diploma in educational leadership from Southern Connecticut State University.
“Daisy Torres is so deserving of this scholarship and recognition,” said Marie Izquierdo, senior vice president of education at Curriculum Associates. “From her decades of service in public education to the important work she is pursuing in her doctoral studies, she is a true leader and champion of equity. We, alongside our partners at the ALAS, are proud to support her in her continuing endeavors.”
Torres was presented the ALAS Scholarship Award during the ALAS National Annual Education Summit earlier this month. This is the eighth consecutive year Curriculum Associates has partnered with the ALAS on the scholarship.
“We are incredibly grateful to have Curriculum Associates as a long-standing partner of the ALAS,” said Dr. Gustavo Baldares, ALAS president and superintendent of the Beaverton School District in Oregon. “As our students need leaders who are reflective of themselves, this generous scholarship to help aspiring superintendents complete their university coursework is invaluable to our membership.”
To learn more about the ALAS Scholarship Awards, visit ALASEdu.org/Scholarship.
