Ileana Gutierrez, Principal of Hemmerling Elementary

Mrs. Gutierrez began her professional teaching career in the Moreno Valley Unified School District (in California) as a Kindergarten intern teacher after graduating from the University of California, Riverside. From there she continued to teach and became involved in all aspects of school education, leadership and community involvement.  In 2014, she became an assistant principal at Bear Valley Elementary, the largest elementary school in the district, and served in that capacity for five years. Mrs. Gutierrez takes pride in her accomplishments in collaboration with all her hard-working staff, which led to a significant reduction in suspensions, increase in attendance, parent involvement, higher English Language Learner reclassification rates and overall academic achievement. This ultimately led the school from underperforming in 2014 to high performing in 2019 when she left to become a principal at Hemmerling Elementary in the Banning Unified School District. 

 

Mrs. Gutierrez is currently an educational leadership doctoral candidate at Northcentral University. Her area of study is in challenging student behavior and social and emotional learning (SEL). Mrs. Gutierrez holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Riverside. She then earned a master’s degree in Education and a Bilingual Cross-Cultural, Language and Academic Development teaching credential, along with an English supplementary credential  from the University of California, Riverside. She also earned a second master’s degree in Educational Administration and an administrative credential from the California State University, San Bernardino. She is bilingual in English and Spanish.

 

Mrs. Gutierrez knows the power of a great education and truly believes that every child deserves equitable access to a challenging, yet attainable education. Being born in Nicaragua during times of war and hardship gave her a different perspective about the world and high appreciation for the power of education.  As an educator, she became highly involved in her school and the community. From an early start as a teacher, she also served in many leadership roles: administrative designee, grade level leader, categorical facilitator, assessment coordinator, school site council, ELAC, ELPAC, and many other key school committees. Under her capacity as an assistant principal, she also led many professional development trainings for her staff and oversaw community engagement and sponsorships. 

 

Mrs. Gutierrez is happily married to her husband of 26 years. They are the proud parents of a son and a daughter. Mrs. Gutierrez enjoys spending time with her family, painting and writing. She is the award winning author of a childhood memoir. As an author, she has served as a presenter for empowerment conferences and literary discussions. Her life motto is, “live every moment to the fullest.” 

 

Today, Mrs. Gutierrez is the proud principal at Hemmerling Elementary, an AVID and a PBIS silver medal school. She shares the same mission as that of the Banning Unified School District, to serve a diverse community that collaborates to develop responsible, respectful, prepared students to achieve their full potential. There is no hesitation in her heart that her hard working, caring and dedicated staff will lead Hemmerling and all Marvelous Mustangs to their next level of academic, social and emotional success.