Superintendent's Office

As a public-school educator for nearly 29 years, Dr. DeLeon has served as a high school teacher, assistant principal, principal, Secondary Instructional Specialist, Director of Professional Development/ Assessment and Evaluation, Interim Director of Elementary Education and Chief of Secondary Schools, before first serving as Superintendent of the Oxnard Union High School District and then Glendora Unified School District. 

Dr. DeLeon earned her doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of La Verne, as well as master’s degrees in secondary education and educational administration, and completed a post-doctoral program at Stanford University in the Executive Program for Educational Leaders. She has also been certified as a leadership coach by the Association of California School Administrators and holds a School Business Management Certificate.  Dr. DeLeon has served on the College Board Advisory Council, and the Board of Directors for the California Linked Learning Alliance.  Her notable accomplishments include being named a 2022 State of California Woman of the Year for Education from Assembly District 48, the 2018 ACSA Region 13 Superintendent of the Year, as well as a 2020 Top 10 Women Superintendents to Watch for ‘Vision and Purpose’ Magazine. 

Before coming to Newark, Dr. DeLeon led both Glendora and Oxnard Union High School District in their efforts to ensure multiple post-secondary options and powerful futures for every child, through the development of a strong college and career readiness focus, and systems of support which provide equity and access to rigorous curricula for all students. Some of their notable accomplishments: increasing enrollment in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, as well as pass rate; increasing college and university applications; increasing the percentage of students who complete the FAFSA; increasing the percentage of students who meet the A-G requirements; increasing the graduation rate and decreasing the drop-out rate; and opening multiple student Wellness Centers and Family Resource Centers.  Dr. DeLeon also led a successful bond campaign which brought $350 million dollars of school facilities funding to the district. 

Throughout her career, Dr. DeLeon has worked to close the achievement gap by nurturing strong parent and community engagement, while promoting a culture of collaboration, support and collegiality for all stakeholders.

With a decade each of academic and administrative experience in some of the most challenging contexts, Dr. Pierce has focused on developing a shared vision around equity and excellence, raising rigor and academic achievement, building strong teams and networks in service of distributed leadership, and above all, modeling the hard work, critical thinking, and deep compassion required of a career in service of all students. Dr. Pierce graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Human Biology. She continued her studies at Stanford University, earning her Teaching Credential and Master’s Degree in Education. She earned an additional Master’s Degree in Administrative Leadership from Reach Institute of School Leadership, and finally her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from East Carolina University.

Cathreene Ingham-Watters brings 21 years of experience and dedication to the Newark community. She has worked in NUSD since 2000: 13 years as a teacher at Bunker Elementary and the past eight years as principal at Musick and Milani/Birch Grove Intermediate School. As a site leader, Ingham-Watters led the merger of two elementary schools, implemented Professional Learning Communities, and initiated Project-Based Learning (PBL), with her site holding the honor of being the only PBL school in NUSD.  In her preparation for this position, Ingham-Watters completed extensive professional development relevant to school personnel administration. This includes a year-long institute with the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), a negotiators’ symposium, and related field experience around hiring/retention of staff, negotiations, evaluations, and investigations. In addition, she has served on various committees such as the STAR Academy Design Team, the Makerspace Task Force, and the LCAP Advisory Committee. Ingham-Watters most recently served as the President of the Newark Management Association (NEWMA). The Executive Director of Human Resources is responsible for the overall operation of the Human Resources Department, affirmative action and sexual harassment officer, uniform complaint officer, contract management, grievances, collective bargaining, employee discipline, new employee recruitment and selection, new teacher training, peer assistance and review, and the Student-Teacher program

The CBO's current responsibilities include overseeing all business services for the district: management of the district’s Budget & Fiscal Services, Internal Auditing, Purchasing, Payroll, Insurance, Risk Management and Student Information Systems functions.