About Chris Cruz

Christopher Cruz first called Upland home over two decades ago and proudly attended Upland schools for the entirety of his K-12 education. His mother, a public school teacher, and his father, a public school district administrator, believed Upland had the best public schools and that belief proved true. Mr. Cruz was able to explore an abundance of academic and extracurricular opportunities before graduating as valedictorian from Upland High School. Thanks to the strong educational foundation Upland schools provided him, Mr. Cruz went on to study at Harvard, earning a degree in economics with honors from Harvard College and a juris doctor degree with honors from Harvard Law School.

 

Mr. Cruz’s career in education began immediately after he graduated from Upland High School. He first worked as an administrative intern for the Los Angeles Unified School District, working on IT projects and legal matters. Following his graduation from Harvard College, Mr. Cruz went on to work as a management consultant. With regards to his work in the education space, he advised universities, government agencies, and non-profit organizations dedicated to advancing educational opportunity on a variety of matters ranging from finance to career technical education.

 

Upon entering the legal profession, Mr. Cruz first served as a student attorney, where he focused largely on education law. He worked with the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative to represent families of children with disabilities in special education cases and with Public Counsel on impact litigation that sought to increase funding for public schools during the pandemic. Mr. Cruz continues to practice law and is a licensed attorney working with a law firm based in Southern California.

 

Mr. Cruz is committed to ensuring that all students throughout UUSD have access to a quality education. He hopes that the next generation of Upland students has even greater opportunities than he had when he was a student and he looks forward to supporting the teachers and staff members that work to make this goal a reality.