A Greeley family advocate who came to the U.S. at 12 without English now guides new students through the same first days, 6 years into the job

Greeley-Evans School District 6 profiled Julia Madera, the parent and family advocate at Chappelow K-8 Arts Magnet School. She arrived in the U.S. at 12 as a seventh grader who did not speak English, and now helps students in the same position.

jessicahollandbiz

· Published

October 7, 2026

· Updated

Julia Madera is the parent and family advocate at Chappelow K-8 Arts Magnet School in Greeley, and she has worked for Greeley-Evans School District 6 for six years. The district featured her on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in The D6 Difference, its regular profile of staff members.

In the profile, Madera says she arrived in the United States at age 12 as a seventh grader who did not speak English. Years later, in the job she holds now, she met a seventh-grade girl starting out in the same position, and she was able to walk the student and her family through the school system. Madera says she did not realize as a child that the person who kept helping her own family was a family advocate, the same role she has today.

Madera is also the parent of District 6 students, according to the profile. She describes a job that changes by the minute as she moves between students, parents, teachers and staff, and she says her school is open to new ideas and listens to what its families need.

By the numbers

6 years: Madera’s service in District 6, according to the district profile
12: her age when she arrived in the U.S. as a seventh grader
60,000 square feet: the planned size of the district’s new leadership and family center in downtown Greeley, from a separate Sept. 16 district release
75 years: the age of the administration building the new center will replace, the district says

What happens next

Family support in District 6 is getting a new home. In a separate release, the district said its board approved a land exchange with the City of Greeley on Monday, Sept. 14, clearing the way to break ground on a new leadership and family center on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. A time and place for the groundbreaking are not listed in the release.
The building will house the District 6 Family Center, which the district describes as a central place where students and families can find resources, education and support. Construction is scheduled to finish in spring 2028.
Read the profile: The D6 Difference: Julia Madera
Read about the new center: District 6 release on the land exchange and groundbreaking

More like this: Greeley · Find the Good · The Latinx Music Club at Greeley Central · A $167,025 grant keeps a math program free in 17 District 6 schools · Aims opens a student health and wellness center in Greeley

Source: Greeley-Evans School District 6 (Oct. 5, 2026 staff profile), plus the district’s Sept. 16, 2026 release on its new leadership and family center. Verified Oct. 7, 2026.

Details verified with the source on October 7, 2026. See something wrong? Send a correction.

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