Our Executive Director

Executive Director's Message

Lorena Chávez, Ed.D. 

It is my honor to serve as the Executive Director of Hawking STEAM Charter Schools, Inc.

I love education and learning new things, and I am passionate about instilling this love of education among our students and the community we serve. I grew up in Los Angeles, a child of Mexican parents who immigrated to this country to give their children a better life. I was the first in my family to go to college, and I obtained my B.A. in Spanish Literature from UCSD (Go Tritons!) I obtained my teaching credential, M.A., administrative credential and my Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership at SDSU (Go Aztecs!)  

I joined the Hawking team in 2013 after a fulfilling teaching career that spanned fourteen years.  As a teacher, I was proud to have been selected as Teacher of the Year twice but even more proud of the academic growth I worked hard to achieve among my students each and every day. 

My passion for teaching and transforming children’s lives led me to becoming a principal and now the Executive Director of what I hope will become the best schools in the world, Hawking STEAM Charter Schools, two sites that form one independent and direct-funded public charter school--Hawking 1 in Chula Vista and Hawking 2 in South San Diego.  

Our mission is to provide our students with a high quality and rigorous STEAM-focused education based on the latest Next Generation Science and Common Core State Standards.  Here at Hawking, we strive to make each day a happy and productive one. Our team of teachers and staff are committed to making our schools a wonderful, safe and highly academic place of teaching and learning with an extreme focus on science.  We know that children are naturally curious and we focus on tapping into this natural curiosity. 

Hawking opened its doors in 2012 with only 140 students, and we are now proud to have grown to serve more than 1,300 students across two campuses.  

I welcome you to learn what Hawking is all about and I look forward to getting to know each of our families and students.