Top MUSD admins retire
For The Madera Tribune
New Madera Unified School District administrators stand in front of the District’s We Believe motto. From left are Prince Marshall, executive director of student and family support services; Lalo Lopez, area assistant superintendent of Blue Pyramid; and Joe Aiello, assistant superintendent of human resources.
Vacancies are filled by stellar replacements
When three high-level Madera Unified administrators decided to retire this year, the district was left with some large shoes to fill.
As fate would have it, however, word of the vacancies had hardly been released when a trio of power-house administrators, all of whom had once worked in Madera, decided to return home to join the excitement in the direction MUSD was taking.
As a result, they will replace Kent Albertson, Chief Human Resource Officer; Linda Monreal, Area Assistant Superintendent of the Blue Pyramid; and Rebecca Malmo, Executive Director of Student Family Support Services.
Replacing Albertson will be Joseph “Joe” Aiello, the current Buchanan High School principal. He will assume the position of Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources in Madera. Aiello started his career in education as a 4th grade teacher in Clovis Unified. He left to become the head varsity basketball coach at Madera High School where he also taught English. Two years later he became the Coyotes’ Athletic Director.
Clovis Unified recruited him to the district athletic director’s job and from that position he was promoted to the Director of Educational Services and retained his athletic director position, as well. Joe was then advised to gain site leadership experience and became the Clovis West Deputy Principal. From that post, he was promoted to the Buchanan High School Principalship, which he has held for four years. Joe returns to Madera after being gone for more than 13 years.
Reflecting on his return to Madera, Aiello said, “I believe in what Madera is doing for the kids of this community. For about a year, I’ve been wanting to be a part of the team and Jill and I are all in. I’m going to give Madera my all.”
Taking over from Malmo as Executive Director of Student and Family Support Services will be Prince Marshall, who is currently Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Washington Unified School District in the Easton area, his hometown.
Marshall has a unique story having lived in West Fresno and Easton as a young student. He began his work career as a custodian in Mendota Unified and then became a kitchen aide and volunteer basketball coach. Upon earning his credential, Prince taught health and first grade while coaching varsity girls basketball. He continued to serve as a sociology teacher, migrant resource teacher, and eventually was hired at Madera South High School as a vice principal. He was promoted to Desmond Middle School as Principal.
Easton actively recruited him, so he left to become the principal of two schools in WUSD — West Fresno Elementary and West Fresno Middle School. This led him to a promotion in 2020 as Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the entire district. Prince currently serves as a professor at National University. He lived in Madera for 10 years, worked in MUSD for five years, and returns after being gone for three years.
Marshall exuded enthusiasm for his return to Madera. “I always wanted to do for my hometown what you guys are doing for yours, but I realized I always felt more at home in Madera Unified than anywhere I ever worked. Professionally, this is the best home I’ve ever had. I’m all in.”
Taking the helm of the Blue Pyramid as Area Assistant Superintendent and replacing Linda Monreal is Ladislao “Lalo” Lopez.
Lopez, is the current Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint USD Assistant Superintendent of Educational and Personnel Services, which he has held for three years.
He came to Madera from Oaxaca, Mexico, at age 13 and went on to distinguish himself at Madera High School. Today he is called “multilingual emergent,” as Mixteco was his first language and English was his third. After his time at CSU Fresno, Lalo entered education as a bilingual high school history teacher in North Monterey Unified School District where he taught for 10 years. As a middle school counselor in Salinas, he saw the opportunity to affect greater change and was encouraged to pursue administration. At Salinas High School, he served for two years as an assistant principal and then was promoted to a middle school principal position in Half Moon Bay.
After deciding that Madera was the place he wanted to raise his family, he returned to lead Webster Elementary in Golden Valley Unified School District for five years. In 2019, after winning the Madera County Administrator of the Year, Lopez joined DPOLJUSD as their Assistant Superintendent of Educational and Personnel Services.
Lopz’s last two superintendents believe he is the smartest and finest educational leader they have ever worked with and could not endorse Lalo with more enthusiasm and confidence.
Lopez and his family live in Madera where his children attend Howard School. He is extremely proud to lead the feeder schools of his alma mater, MHS.
“For many years I have been on a personal journey to return to Madera to make things better for kids just like me and I really WANT to be a part of your team. This is me and I can contribute. I WANT to contribute!”
The retirements of Albertson, Monreal, and Malmo become effective June 30. Aiello, Marshall, and Lopez assume their positions July 1.
