Sonia E. Ruiz

Jane Addams Middle School
Valley View School District 365U
Bolingbrook, Illinois
ruizse@vvsd.org

Sonia E. Ruiz took over as principal of Jane Addams Middle School three years ago. Although a newcomer to the district in just her second year as principal, Ruiz brought 14 years of experience as an administrator and quickly noticed a need to shift the school’s approach to MTSS. Intent to develop a thoughtful and responsive system that was also a realistic and sustainable fit for the school, Ruiz gathered insights from throughout the district, identified team members who helped lead the charge, gave teachers agency in identifying the interventions they wanted to lead, and identified the training and professional development required for effective execution. The result is a refined system that reflects a proactive mindset when addressing social, emotional, and behavioral concerns. In each year of implementation, Ruiz has expanded the school’s day-to-day emphasis on cultivating self-advocacy, conflict management, and problem-solving in all students while embedding restorative practice across all aspects of school culture. These efforts have produced measurable results, with students demonstrating increased competence in self-regulation and the school earning praise from the state as “exemplary.” Ruiz is especially attuned to the needs of marginalized and underrepresented students, leading a variety of initiatives to build a responsive, equitable, and caring school community. She is a Ph.D. Candidate at Illinois State University and holds a Master of School Leadership degree from Concordia University and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.