School Leaders

Michelle Koyama

About Me:

My name is Michelle Koyama and I am the very proud principal of Colfax Elementary. I am a Denver Native, a Westsider in fact, and attended DPS since I was 4 years old. As a product of the Denver Public Schools I have a personal investment in ensuring no matter a students’ last name, color of their skin, or zip code, are barriers to positive learning experiences for a child. As a leader in DPS, I also draw from the experiences from the many hats I have worn in my professional career in DPS which started as a special education paraprofessional all the way through being an assistant instructional superintendent. I started at the elementary level for my first 9 years of teaching, transitioned to teaching and leading at the middle school level, and after working in middle management in DPS for two years, I needed to refuel my fire and I became the principal at Colfax! These experiences give me perspectives and an investment to be relentless in making the system better in service of the children and families we serve.

Carina Ventura

Assistant Principal
Carina_Ventura@dpsk12.net

About Me:

My name is Carina Ventura, the students at Colfax might know me as Ms.Ventura. I have worked in Denver Public Schools and at Colfax Elementary for the past six years. During my time at Colfax, I have had the pleasure of teaching 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. I have also had the opportunity to serve as a teacher leader within the school for the past 3 years. Before my time in Denver, I studied at the University of California at Los Angeles and worked as a tutor in an after school center in downtown Los Angeles for 4 years.

I am a daughter of El Salvadoran immigrants that escaped a civil war at the ages of 16 and 17. Because of the constant violence my parents did not get an opportunity to obtain formal education. My mother doesn’t know how to read or write in her native language of Spanish and my father only finished third grade before he had to drop out of school to work and support his family. My parents made a lot of sacrifices to provide for my six siblings and I. While they couldn’t help me academically, they inculcated the value of education, community, family, and the importance of caring for others.

My experiences and values have shaped my passion and determination to provide the best quality of education that sets high expectations for all of our students, teachers, and leaders. As the assistant principal at Colfax this year my hope is to use my passion to continue to provide the best education possible to our Colfax Tigers. I also want to be a resource to all families in order to ensure that our Colfax tigers succeed in Colfax and later in life. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments on how we can improve Colfax and I look forward to making connections with all Colfax families, staff and students.