Biographical profile |
Carole Bialek Vargas is the principal of Theodore Judah Elementary School in Folsom, California, having spent twenty years working for the Folsom Cordova Unified School District (FCUSD). Vargas was born and raised in Carmel, California. She holds a degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and graduated summa cum laude in 1985. In 2000, she earned a multiple subject/CLAD teaching credential from UC Davis, and in 2006, she completed a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of La Verne in La Verne, California.
In 1985-1986, Vargas served as a John Gardner Public Service Fellow at Independent Sector, a national nonprofit in Washington, DC, founded by John Gardner in 1976 to support and encourage the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, cultivate leaders, and enhance ethical practices. Her mentors were Sandra Grey, Vice President of Effective Sector Leadership, and Virginia Hodgkinson, Vice President of Research. Vargas remained in Washington after her fellowship year and worked for the National Foundation for the Improvement of Education making grants and assisting in the development of the Christa McAuliffe Institute for Educational Pioneering and the New Jersey Urban Outreach Program. In 1988, she became director of development at the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.
Vargas returned to California in 1989 and became the executive coordinator of the Santa Clara County Bar Association Law Foundation, a legal services provider to low-income individuals. In 1991, again for the Santa Clara County Bar Association, she worked as the associate executive director for their Continuing Legal Education program. She married Honesto Vargas in 1991, and they moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she completed a one-year post-baccalaureate premedical program at Goucher College in 1995. While there, she taught computer science at the Bryn Mawr School and for a summer program for inner- city girls from Baltimore. When Vargas’ husband was hired by Intel in Folsom, they moved back to California with their two sons, and Vargas began teaching in FCUSD where their children attended school. Her career in education at FCUSD has been multifaceted. Vargas taught pre-school and third grade, became district lead teacher for K-6 math and science, coordinated the GATE program, instructed new teachers, and most recently was principal of Navigator Elementary School for six years. She started her current position as principal of Theodore Judah Elementary School, the largest elementary school in the district, in 2019.
Vargas is a founding member of the John Gardner Fellowship Association established in 2003 to further the mission of the John Gardner Public Service Fellowship program at both Stanford University and UC Berkeley.
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