The Miami-Dade County School Board at its July 29 special meeting selected Rafael A. Villalobos as the next superintendent to lead Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS).

Villalobos started his career as a high school teacher with M-DCPS 32 years ago and showed remarkable leadership at four high schools and in several administrative positions. As South Region superintendent for the past four years, he has earned the respect and admiration of many who have witnessed firsthand his exemplary commitment and passion to the role.

“It’s incredible to serve here as an alumnus of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. My path into education took a twist of fate; I didn’t originally set out to teach,” Villalobos said. “But seeing the profound care my brother, who was blind and autistic, received from his teachers,

I realized I was born to be an educator and I am honored to have been chosen to serve as the next superintendent.”
Villalobos began his career in education as a teacher at South Dade Senior High School, served as lead teacher at Felix Varela Senior High School, and then became assistant principal at the South Dade Adult Center (now South Dade Technical College), managing adult programs for ESOL, citizenship, GED, and skilled trades.

He has served as assistant principal at Felix Varela Senior High School, and principal at Booker T. Washington Senior High School, John A. Ferguson Senior High School, Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial High School, Hammocks Middle School, and Miami Springs Senior High School.

As the founding principal of Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial High School in 2008, he drove the launch of the district’s first-of-a-kind public safety and law studies high school. He was named Principal of the Year in 2020 for his leadership at John A. Ferguson Senior High School, whose students at the time achieved the highest graduation rates in the school’s history, reaching 99 percent during his tenure there.

Villalobos became the South Region superintendent in 2022, providing executive oversight for more than 100 schools and 80,000 students in one of the highest performing regions in the district with a 98 percent graduation rate. He established the region’s first PTA/PTSA/PTO leadership forum, uniting parent leaders and stakeholders across all the region’s elementary, middle and high schools three times a year to support engagement and collaboration. He also implemented a leadership pipeline for principals and assistant principals to strengthen leadership and communication.

School board chair Mari Tere Rojas now will negotiate and execute a contract with Villalobos. Current superintendent Dr. Jose L. Dotres, who has led M-DCPS for the past four years, continues to be the Superintendent of Schools at M-DCPS until Feb. 14, 2027.

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