The ICS Board of Directors has named Chad Velde-Cabrera principal of the International Community School (ICS).
Velde-Cabrera, a native of the Midwest, comes to ICS from Chicago, where he served as a Master Teacher and Assistant Principal at the Officer Donald J. Marquez Charter School. He recently moved to the Decatur area with his wife, Janine Cabrera-Velde, who is an Atlanta native. Prior to his time in Chicago, he received his Masters of Education with a concentration in Educational Leadership from Harvard University in 2015. While at Harvard, he served as Principal Intern at The Rafael Hernandez Dual Language School in Boston.
He has over eight years of experience in elementary and middle school education as a classroom teacher and instructional coach. He has worked in public and charter schools in the United States, Central America and South America. When not at work, he can be found using technology to stay in touch with his nieces and nephews, reading Harry Potter and attempting to become a better cook.
“After an exhaustive principal search, we are very excited to have Mr. Velde-Cabrera join our school,” Ashley Parks, the 2016-17 chair of the ICS Board of Directors and member of the principal search committee. “He has shown an immense dedication to innovative education since becoming an educator, is passionate about the ICS mission and committed to forging deep relationships within the ICS community and beyond.”
Velde-Cabrera is extremely honored to be chosen to lead ICS and is committed to working with the ICS community to uphold the mission and vision of this school. He is excited about working with the ICS staff, students and the ICS community to create rigorous, fun classrooms where all students can learn at high levels and gain the skills to be successful in life.
Please join us in providing him a warm welcome to the ICS community.
Get to know him better by watching an interview filmed and produced by ICS alumnus and friend, Damian Trapp:
