{"id":131820,"date":"2026-06-04T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-association-of-school-executives-honor-mchs-principal-as-rookie-of-the-year\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:00:00","slug":"colorado-association-of-school-executives-honor-mchs-principal-as-rookie-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-association-of-school-executives-honor-mchs-principal-as-rookie-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Association of School Executives honor MCHS principal as Rookie of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jennifer
Jennifer Boniface, Montezuma-Cortez High School principal, was named 2026 Rookie of the Year by the Colorado Association of School Executives. (Courtesy of Jennifer Boniface)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Colorado Association of School Executives recently named Montezuma-Cortez High School Principal Jennifer Boniface this year\u2019s Principal Rookie of the Year, citing her impact as a relatively new school leader at MCHS.<\/p>\n

Vice Principal Brandon Thurston said the award is given yearly to new high school principals who exhibit exceptional qualities of leadership, creativity and results early on in their tenure while building trust, improving school culture and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means Dr. Boniface\u2019s work is not just strong locally; it is being noticed and celebrated at the state level as a model for others. In a role that is often demanding and complex, this recognition affirms that her vision, hard work and heart for students are making a measurable difference,\u201d Thurston said.<\/p>\n

He said Boniface\u2019s work in the high school has aided MCHS as it continues on a \u201cpowerful upward trajectory.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Boniface\u2019s recognition shines a positive light on our entire community. It underscores that great things are happening in our classrooms, that our staff are supported and empowered and that our students are known, challenged and cared for,\u201d Thurston said. \u201cHer leadership helps create a school where high expectations, inclusion and strong relationships are at the center of everything we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boniface, who has been MCHS\u2019s principal since 2023, grew up in Bayfield and graduated with a bachelor\u2019s degree in English from Fort Lewis College. She earned a master\u2019s degree in curriculum and instruction from New Mexico State University, an education specialist degree from the University of Northern Colorado and a doctorate in organizational leadership from Grand Canyon University. She is also a mother of four and her husband is a MCHS alumni.<\/p>\n

She has worked in education for over 15 years with students from preschool to higher education. Prior to working at MCHS, Boniface was an English and drama teacher at Ignacio High School and adjunct professor at FLC and San Juan College.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am incredibly grateful for this honor and share this recognition with our amazing students, staff, families and community, whose support and hard work make MCHS such a special place,\u201d Boniface told The Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Under Boniface\u2019s leadership, academic growth and attendance rates have been boosted and the high school was transitioned to a seven-period school day to lower classroom sizes and expand \u201cgraduation capacity,\u201d Thurston said. MCHS celebrates academic successes and has also expanded concurrent enrollment options at Pueblo Community College.<\/p>\n

He said the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 Board of Education recently celebrated Boniface\u2019s state-level nomination and award.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe accolade reflects the hard work being poured into the halls of MCHS,\u201d he said. \u201cAmid the evolving landscape of rural education, Dr. Boniface\u2019s steady leadership has focused on collaborative problem-solving, actively building up a robust School Accountability Committee to bring parents directly into the strategy conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

bduran@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

acknowledges leadership, creativity and early results<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5794,5735],"tags":[21,28,60,36,216,29,6419],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-131820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-news","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-school-district-re-1","tag-newsletter","tag-tj-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131820"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=131820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}