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Ready for Change
About Me
I've spent the last six years in work on issues related to students and schools. I've been a student organizer, mobilizing student peers on issues affecting us. I am prepared to advocate in the very same spirit for our most important APS stakeholders: our students. I'm a former childcare provider and certified physical fitness & nutrition professional. I also bring to the table a background of academic research in Title IX, gender-based violence in educational settings, and childcare policy.
My involvement in our community dates back nearly a decade to 2014, before I even counted myself as an Arlingtonian. Then, as a 13-year-old, I participated in the Honor Flight Network with my granddad, taking military veterans to the Iwo Jima Memorial near where I live now in Rosslyn. I now sit on the APS School Health Advisory Board and am a member of a range of civic organizations, including the Arlington Rotary Club and its Youth Committee, the Radnor-Ft. Meyer Heights (RAFOM) Civic Association, and more. I'm a working group member of the Arlington County Food Security Coalition. Having experienced food insecurity, I know how important the issue is, especially as pandemic-era assistance programs are ending.
I am running for the Arlington School Board to bring new voices to the table, bring people together, and deliver on the change that's overdue.
Priorities
My leadership philosophy is this: we need leaders who will pursue evidence-based solutions, take local action on big issues, and have the difficult conversations.
If elected to the School Board, I am determined to confront the present crisis in our schools. First and foremost, this means bringing people together and leading by listening. This means addressing the major challenges of our moment with empathy, guts, and vision.
It means tackling the inequities in our schools and social/emotional challenges, both of which have ballooned during and after the pandemic. It means making our schools inclusive to all, particularly students of color, students with disabilities, girls, and LGBTQ+ students. It means delivering relief for families from our cost-of-living crisis by collaborating with our County Board to figure out a plan for free school meals, and supporting teachers by increasing pay and enacting 12 weeks of paid family leave.
& The News
ARLINGTON, VA — AEA-PAC, the political action committee of the Arlington Education Association, announced Thursday their endorsement of Angelo Cocchiaro to be the next member of the Arlington School Board...
MAY 5, 2023 / PRESS RELEASE
Arlington Education Association Political Action Committee
(AEA-PAC) Says: It's Angelo
Influential union says Cocchiaro's "support of labor rights and collective bargaining will serve our students, community, and staff well" and he'll give staff "a real voice."
ARLINGTON, VA — Outgoing School Board chair Reid Goldstein announced Tuesday morning he is endorsing Democratic School Board candidate Angelo Cocchiaro in the race to succeed him...
APRIL 17, 2023 / PRESS RELEASE
Reid's Read: It's Angelo
Outgoing incumbent backs Cocchiaro in race to succeed him, says newest member will need to "uphold, defend, and advance" progress.