Tía Josie was the example. In our whole family, when something was hard, we asked: what would Josie do? We still will.
4 months ago
Josephine Clara Reyes
January 15, 1967 – February 3, 2026 · 59 years
"She saw possibility where others saw obstacles."
Biography
Josephine Clara Reyes was a bilingual elementary school principal from San Antonio, Texas, who spent 28 years transforming underserved schools into places of excellence and joy. The daughter of migrant farmworkers, Josephine was the first in her family to finish high school. She went on to get a master's degree in education leadership and became the youngest principal in her district's history. Her schools consistently outperformed statewide averages. She is survived by her husband Marco, children Sofia and Diego, and a school community that is renaming its library in her honor.
Messages & Tributes (12)
+ Write a MessageMy son got into college. His principal called it a miracle. I called it Josephine Reyes.
4 months ago
Josephine Reyes represented everything we want in educational leadership: rigor, compassion, and an absolute refusal to accept that where you come from determines where you go.
4 months ago
She caught me crying in the hallway in fifth grade and brought me into her office. We talked for an hour. She called my mom. She made a plan. She followed up. For three years.
4 months ago
Ms. Reyes was my principal for four years. She knew every student's name and family situation. Every one. That school had 600 kids.
4 months ago
Mamá told us every night before bed that we could do anything. She said it like it was fact. Because to her it was.
4 months ago
Josie changed a hundred lives in that school. She changed mine first. I am who I am because of you.
4 months ago
She started every staff meeting by reading a student success story aloud. It took five minutes. It changed the energy of the whole week.
4 months ago
She hired me for my first teaching job and told me on day one: the kids who need the most love will often ask for it in the most unlovable ways. I have never forgotten it.
4 months ago
My daughter said the first day of school was the best day of her year because of how Ms. Reyes made everyone feel welcome at the door. Every single day. Personally.
4 months ago