Meet our Keynote Speakers: CHSS Leadership summit 2025

Ms. Thea Andrade has served as Phoenix Union High School District Superintendent since the summer of 2023. Ms. Andrade is the first female superintendent in the District’s nearly 130-year history after earning unanimous approval from the Governing Board.

Prior to being named superintendent, Ms. Andrade served as PXU’s Chief Achievement Officer, a role she held since 2019. In this role, she led the Safety, Student & Family Services, and Teaching & Learning Divisions. She joined the District in 2011, first as the Assessment & Accountability Supervisor, then as Director of Assessment & Accountability, before joining the PXU Executive Team as the Executive Director for Technology & Innovation.

Ms. Thea Andrade has served in public education for nearly three decades and as an administrator for over 25 years.  As a former mathematics teacher, she has taught both high school and middle school Algebra. Ms. Andrade earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University and served as a high school Principal and Director of Quality Schools prior to joining PXU. Ms. Andrade is passionate about ensuring equitable opportunities and access to quality seats for all students. She played a direct role in the development and rollout of the innovative PXU Teaching & Learning Framework.

A Boston native, she has made Phoenix her adopted home for over 30 years with her son and daughter. She is passionate about having the privilege and opportunity to shape the future of Arizona, the city of Phoenix, and her local community.

Phoenix Union is an innovative portfolio district, located in the urban core of Phoenix. PXU proudly serves over 26,000 students in grades 9-12 at 23 various high schools in the fifth largest market in the country. In PXU, diversity is a hallmark and point of pride. With over 100 languages spoken across the district, PXU prides itself on being an inclusive place that welcomes, loves, and inspires all students to go places and do things that matter.

James Arndt was born and raised in Arizona and is now serving as the Principal of Camelback High School. He earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and political science from the University of San Diego, where he competed as a Division I rower. After graduating, he returned home to teach seventh and eighth grade in the Isaac School District while completing a master’s degree in Secondary Instruction and later pursuing a Doctorate in Leadership and Innovation from Arizona State University.

James became the youngest principal in Phoenix Union history when he assumed the role in 2020. Under his leadership, Camelback High School has been recognized as a National Demonstration School for its Freshman House and ninth-grade success model. He has been invited to share this work nationally, most recently presenting at the Council of the Great City Schools Conference and hosting educators from across the country as part of the National “Schools to Learn From” program. Outside of the school building, James has chaired three successful override campaigns generating more than $100 million for local schools and serves on the boards of the Men’s Arts Council, the Arizona Trail Association, and New Way Learning Academy. He is happily married with two children and enjoys camping and hiking across Arizona.