Dear Kennedy Community,
I am pleased to share with you that a familiar face will welcome you from summer break come the new school year. Mrs. Chandra Leonardo has accepted to become principal of Kennedy Middle School starting in 2023-24.
While we will certainly miss Mr. F, we are very fortunate that we did not have to go very far to find your new leader as this strong and beloved educator in your building is the obvious choice to step into Kennedy’s principalship role. In August, she and Assistant Principal Mr. Jared Bosnich will start the new school year together as Kennedy’s leadership team. Mr. Bosnich fills the vacancy left as David Camarena transitions to Taft and we will soon name our second assistant principal.
As you know, Chandra has been assistant principal at Kennedy since 2019-20, challenging and supporting students to meet their full potential while removing barriers as they transition to high school. Before moving into administration, many Kennedy students were fortunate to have this loving educator as their 6th grade language arts teacher. She came to RCSD in 2013-14 after teaching technology integration with the Ravenswood City School District where she supported curriculum and content development and guided teachers with integrating technology into daily instruction. She also has elementary level experience having taught 2nd grade in San José and Delano.
A well rounded educator who keeps the whole child at the forefront of her work, Chandra is a former social worker who worked in Kern County to remove barriers for children and families. Chandra holds her undergraduate degree in Sociology as well as her teaching credential from California State University, Bakersfield and a master’s degree in Educational Administration from California State University, San Marcos.
Chandra will have the support of an educator who brings a strong secondary education background to Kennedy. Mr. Jared Bosnich is joining our District and Kennedy from the Jefferson Elementary School District where he has dedicated the last decade as an English language arts, English language development (ELD), and resource specialist (RSP) teacher at Benjamin Franklin Intermediate School. Also a former English 9th grade College Prep teacher, we will rely on Jared’s experience as a teacher at El Camino High School, to help our middle school students be high school ready as they transition to continue their academic careers.
Fluent in Spanish, Jared earned a Diploma of Achievement in Contemporary Latin American Studies from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He also holds his master’s degree in Educational Administration and Leadership, his undergraduate degree in Communication and Spanish, and his teaching credential, all from San Francisco State University.
A public servant at heart, Jared has traveled to both Chile and New Orleans where he volunteered to help their local communities recover and rebuild after devastating natural disasters such as Chile’s earthquake and hurricane Katrina.
We are very fortunate to have these professionals at the helm of Kennedy, educators who are not only experts in their subject areas, but both who also bring a heart of gold for our students as they will see them as the whole child in addition to how they are progressing academically.
Chandra will immediately start working with our Department of Human Resources to begin the recruitment process for the second assistant principal position at your school.
Looking forward to a great 2023-24 at Kennedy,
John Baker
Superintendent
