Cristina Diaz-Torres joined the Arlington School Board on January 1, 2021 and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Board.  Cristina is a former teacher and education policy specialist with experience in the classroom, who gets the data, and who believes every student has a right to succeed. She is a longtime advocate for students in Arlington and has previously served on several key Arlington School Board and County Board commissions including the Budget Advisory Council, Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission, and the Joint Facilities Advisory Commission.

Cristina is a proud, bilingual and bi-cultural Latina born in Boston and raised between New England and her family’s native San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Before being elected to the School Board, Cristina was a preschool assistant teacher in New York City and a high school math teacher in Las Vegas, where she experienced firsthand how policy plays out in schools. She later became an education policy consultant supporting school districts, state education agencies, and education organizations across the country to improve student outcomes by creating evidence-based systems and policies. Her previous work also includes helping teachers in Puerto Rico get back to school in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and managing a grant program for teacher-leaders in Massachusetts dedicated to addressing inequity in their schools.  Now, Cristina works at a leadership development organization, helping civic and elected leaders eradicate educational inequities across the country.

Cristina is a graduate of New York University with dual majors in Economics and History and holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas specializing in Secondary Mathematics. She is fluent in both English and Spanish and lives in Crystal City.

Office Phone: 703-228-6015

Email: cristina.diaztorres@apsva.us / school.board@apsva.us

Term expires December 31, 2024