Indra Ciccarelli is an accomplished educator with more than 20 years of experience in education, with a focus on special education and at-promise youth. He has worked within a wide range of educational settings, including large public school districts, large and small conversion and start-ups, and dependent and independent charter schools. He has also worked as the principal of a small private school that specialized in serving students with disabilities.

His job duties have included both site-level and district-level administration and oversight. Mr. Ciccarelli has been a SELPA coordinator as well as a coordinator within Los Angeles County Office of Education’s Charter School Office prior to attaining his current position as the Director for the Charter Schools Office.

He began his career as an educator after graduating from Amherst College with a double major in Biology and religion. He taught middle and high school science, special education and agriculture before moving into administration. Mr. Ciccarelli attended California State University at Northridge, where he earned his Master of Educational Administration degree, as well as his administrative credential.

As the Charter Schools Director for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, Mr. Ciccarelli has worked to improve quality educational opportunities for all families, while helping to ensure these opportunities are equitable and diverse. During the pandemic, Mr. Ciccarelli has worked to ensure equitable access to vaccinations and educational resources while helping lead the County’s COVID support and Accelerated Learning initiative.

Having experienced a multitude of school programs both as a student and as an educator, he works to ensure strong and diverse programs that meet the needs of all students.

Mr. Ciccarelli was the 2024 recipient of CCAP’s 2024 Authorizing Exemplar Award for developing and implementing outstanding practices that inspire peers across the state. He went on as California’s nominee to be recognized by the National Network for District Authorizing (NN4DA) with its 2024 Local Authorizing Exemplar Award.

You can read more about Mr. Ciccarelli in this CCAP newsletter article.