Behind every student success story, there are dedicated people helping it happen. Our licensed employees bring expertise, compassion, and care to that work every day, supporting students, educators, and schools across our region.
At Clackamas ESD, our licensed team includes about 180 staff members in at least 20 different types of roles. They teach students, lead professional learning for staff, support social skills development, and provide speech, physical, and occupational therapy. Their work reaches students, educators, families, and communities across Clackamas County.
Their work reflects our mission to lead, serve, and innovate for learning. We are grateful for every licensed employee and the meaningful difference they make each day. This Licensed Employee Appreciation Week, meet a few of our licensed staff members and learn how they serve our community.
For 35 years, Tonya Madrigal has helped children succeed by making sure families feel supported, connected, and included. Through our free Head Start to Success preschool program, she builds strong relationships with families, helps them access the resources they need, and makes sure they feel welcome as important partners in their child’s learning.
“I feel like I’m a bridge between families and everyone who supports their child, including teachers, family visitors, assistants, and other program staff,” Tonya says. “I try to do everything I can to bring families and staff together so we can work as a team to support each child.”
Building Belonging Early
A big part of Tonya’s work is planning family events that help parents feel comfortable and included in their child’s school experience. Head Start to Success offers four family events each year, and each one is meant to feel welcoming, useful, and easy for families to join. Parents might visit the classroom, do activities with their child, meet other families, listen to children sing, or take home simple ideas and materials to use at home.
Tonya also works to build stronger connections between home and school. At recent events, families received books through a literacy grant along with easy tips for helping children build reading skills at home. Other events have shared visual tools that help children name and understand their feelings, giving families and teachers a shared way to support them. For Tonya, these small but meaningful supports help families feel more confident, connected, and involved in their child’s learning.
Helping Families Find Their Footing
Tonya cares deeply about helping parents feel confident and supported. She offers parenting classes and has seen how those classes can lead to even more involvement. A parent might start by joining a class, then go on to serve on Head Start to Success’s policy council, volunteer, attend community events, or build friendships with other families in the program.
One story that stands out to Tonya is about a parent who joined parenting classes, attended library story time, and became involved in policy council. Over time, that parent started thinking about how her family could share its Aztec dance traditions with students and the larger school community. Another meaningful moment came when she proudly showed other families the visual schedules she had put up at home after learning about them in class. Those schedules helped make daily routines less stressful, and for Tonya, it was a powerful reminder that when parents feel supported, the whole family benefits.
A Long View of Community
Over the past 35 years, Tonya has seen the long-term impact of this work in powerful ways. She shared the story of a parent she has known for nearly 20 years, watching her grow from a young and uncertain parent when she first joined the program to a confident parent participating in parenting classes and sharing her experiences with others. For Tonya, moments like that show what makes the program so meaningful.
She has also seen former students and parents come back to work in Head Start to Success, including one of her earliest students who returned as a classroom assistant. For Tonya, those full-circle moments are a special reminder of the strong relationships built through the program and the lasting difference it can make.
Drawn to Work That Makes a Difference
Tonya did not plan to work in early childhood education, but the path she found was a natural fit. She studied political science and cared deeply about social justice. During an internship with the farmworker union in Woodburn, she saw firsthand the challenges many families face, and that experience strengthened her desire to help make a difference.
After college, a friend told her about a bilingual position connected to migrant education and Head Start. She decided to give it a try and quickly realized the work felt right. Later, she went back to school and earned a master’s degree in social work, continuing to shape her career around the part of the job she cared about most, supporting families.
Today, Tonya also helps provide training for family visitors and teachers on family engagement, which she believes should be a bigger part of how educators are prepared. Her approach is simple and clear. Parents should never feel judged or pushed aside. They should feel welcomed, supported, and empowered.
Care Beyond the Classroom
Outside of work, Tonya brings that same care and compassion into her life at home. Now that her children are grown, she has poured her energy into dog rescue, fostering dogs from a high-kill shelter in Southern California and helping with fundraising, networking, and finding them loving homes.
