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Dr. Maestre is a proud product of Orange County Public Schools. He attended Pinar Elementary, Liberty Middle, and graduated from Colonial High-he can be found on the senior panoramic in the main office! It was because of the amazing teachers he had in OCPS that sparked his desire to enter the profession.
After high school graduation, Dr. Maestre enrolled at Valencia Community College where he completed his A.A. in Education. He then transferred to the University of Central Florida to earn his B.S. in Social Science Education. While working on his Bachelor's Degree, he completed his Junior Internship at Meadowbrook Middle and his Senior Internship at Oak Ridge High.
Dr. Maestre always knew he wanted to go back to Colonial upon completion of his degree. He applied for and was offered a position to teach World History at his Alma Mater. During his time at Colonial, he taught World History, AP European History, and Economics. He was also a club sponsor for Sophomore Class, Junior Class, and Student Government as well as an Assistant Coach for boys and girls Water Polo.
At the end of the 2011-2012 school year, he made the difficult decision to leave Colonial and transferred to Olympia High so in order to diversify his school experiences, as he knew he wanted to get into administration. While there, he taught World History and AP Human Geography in addition to being the Senior Class sponsor. At the end of that school year, he was appointed as an Assistant Principal at Evans High where he serves as the API for the next 3 school years. While there, he gained lots of experiences working with teachers across all content areas, connecting with students, and becoming familiar with all of the areas of his role including IB, AP, guidance, and student support. Although he was only there for a brief time, there were many valuable lessons and experience that he gained.
Dr. Maestre entered his first principal position at Carver Middle in the 2015-2016 school year. His experience at Carver supported his growth as a leader and helped him to strategically think outside the box to find solutions to problems. He gained understanding of the importance of the social aspect of school for students from the perspective of the principal. He and his team created experiences for students to engage with academic content outside of the school day in a structured environment and began clubs to provide opportunities for students to showcase their talents and abilities.
In November 2016, Dr. Maestre was provided a unique opportunity to open a new middle school in the Lake Nona area. Opening Innovation Middle meant putting all of the pieces in place from the name, mascot, and colors to the academic programs, faculty and staff, and culture. In two short years, he learned, grew, built relationships, and built a school culture and identity with an amazing group of individuals. It was after this that he received the phone call to let him know he was going home.
As Dr. Maestre embarks on the next chapter of his career, he could not be more excited to return home. He wholeheartedly believes that Colonial High is an amazing place for students to learn, teachers to grow, and a community to come together. He is proud that Colonial's academic data from the past several school years continues to trend in a positive direction and is certain that with a continued focus on high levels of student achievement, Colonial will earn another 'B' this upcoming school year and continue to move up from there! He understands that will take every member of the Grenadier team to doing their part in pushing our students to perform highly in all areas.
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