Natomas Unified’s New Superintendent Beginning July 1, 2023
For those individuals who know Robyn Castillo, Natomas Unified School District’s next superintendent, they will tell you that family is extremely important to her. In fact, many of her favorite hobbies have stemmed from being a supportive mother to her two sons. “My younger son was into sports. He played football and ran hurdles in track and field in high school and is currently an assistant football coach where he attended high school. My older son participated and competed with academic teams such as Science Olympiad, Science Bowl, and FIRST Robotics.”
Although both sons are now college graduates – one graduating from UC Berkeley and the other most recently from Fresno State – she still finds herself cheering along the sidelines at high school athletic and co-curricular events. “I have a competitive nature, so I really enjoy being present and watching students compete at all levels.”
Robyn enjoys attending and being a part of school site activities. She is a frequent visitor to classrooms, reads to students, attends awards assemblies, drama productions, concerts, and events such as the CTE Skills Challenge, scores at wrestling tournaments, and was even a part of the “Push-Up Crew” at a Friday night football game. Robyn has also been very involved in Central Valley Robotics for over 20 years. “I’ve done everything from volunteering at tournaments, to scoring matches, to traveling around the country to the FIRST World Championships to watch my students and my own children compete.”
In her spare time when she’s not at a school event, robotics tournaments, or crocheting (which she learned from a teacher and then enhanced her skills watching YouTube videos), you may find her traveling to the coast with her family or engaged in a good book. “I am an avid reader, especially books in a series. It gives me a longer span to connect with the characters and the story line. When I was an elementary principal, the librarian would always suggest good books for me to read,” reflects Robyn. While she owns a wide range of genres in her personal library, her all-time favorites are mysteries and thrillers.
Robyn has always loved books for as long as she can remember. Early in life, she understood the importance of reading and how much fun and interesting it could be which just happened to be perfect characteristics for a teacher.
“I was one of those people who always wanted to be a teacher. I never wavered from that. I think what really influenced my path was helping my mother when I was younger with her preschool. That desire to help others succeed was planted inside of me and grew from there.” After high school, Robyn attended Fresno State, where she met her husband of 30 years, to begin her journey to be a teacher. After teaching for almost a decade, she would later become a school principal and take on other administrative positions which would broaden her scope and knowledge of a widespan of areas in education.
In whatever role that she has had, one thing never changes, and that’s being an integral part of her community. “People who know me will say that I am very visible and engaged. It’s probably one of the things that I have enjoyed most about where I live now – the connectedness with the people in the community. I am looking forward to establishing that in Natomas and becoming a part of this community.”
Staff, families and community members will have an opportunity to meet Robyn during a Meet & Greet on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Details will be forthcoming with the time and location. Stay tuned.
