Who We Are

Mary Rubadeau

Mary Rubadeau serves as the Superintendent of the Telluride (Colo.) School District, where her eight years as superintendent have brought the district to new levels of excellence. She also serves as a consultant with Focused Leadership Solutions, where after almost thirty years in public education she is a recognized educational leader and national presenter for instructional improvement. A native of New York, Mary attained her undergraduate degree at St. Lawrence University and a Masters degree from the State University of New York at Albany.  

Twenty years of Mary’s educational career were spent in Alaska. There she served as a teacher in a remote village, as a special education director, assistant superintendent for Instruction on the Kenai Peninsula, and superintendent in Juneau.   

Mary is particularly proud of a collaborative teaching and learning model, which she developed in Juneau and brought to Telluride, called Individual Mission and Assessment Plan (IMAP). The process is based on the best practices of putting teachers together to examine data and determine interventions and instructional strategies to improve student learning for groups of children and individual students. The Telluride R-1 District has shown continual improvement in student achievement, despite a significant change in the student demographics. She has shared the IMAP process at state and national conferences, and several districts in Colorado have adapted aspects of the model.  

Mary is passionate about kids and learning. She developed and facilitates a Student Leadership Strand at the Colorado Association of School Boards Conference each year, because she is dedicated to nurturing youth leadership. When she is not working with teachers, parents and kids, she can be found riding her mare in the mountains, skiing, or sailing on the east coast with family and friends.