Miguel Castillo is a transformative leader with over 31 years of experience in education, holding a Bachelor of Science in Biology from St. Edward's University and a Master of Science in Education Administration from Texas A&M International University. His career spans roles as a teacher, principal, director, and executive, with a proven track record of turning around low-performing Title I schools. Under his leadership, Antonio M. Bruni Elementary soared to success, earning an "A" rating and all six distinctions from the Texas Education Agency in 2019. That same year, the school was recognized as one of the best elementary schools in Texas and California by the Educational Results Partnership and was the only campus in Laredo ISD to achieve a national STEM distinction for top-tier science and math performance. Miguel’s expertise in school improvement has driven remarkable transformations at three Title I campuses—two as a principal and one as an executive director—demonstrating his unwavering commitment to academic excellence and equitable education for all students.
Miguel Castillo and his former school, Antonio M. Bruni Elementary, have earned national acclaim, being featured on the front page of The New York Times (2014) and highlighted on Univision’s national network (2015). The Univision feature—a powerful 2-minute clip—showcased how this Title I school transformed lives by embracing, teaching, and supporting students from immigrant and low-income backgrounds. Driven by his belief that equitable education is the ultimate equalizer, Mr. Castillo has demonstrated how strong systems of support can dismantle the barriers that hinder student success. His visionary leadership continues to serve as a blueprint for creating inclusive and transformative educational environments.
Miguel Castillo is a two-time contributing author featured in the influential books Principals in Action (2019) by Mark French, Jay Posick, and Ryan Sheehy, and Hispanic Stars Rising Vol. 4 (September 2023) by Claudia Romo Edelman. In Principals in Action, Mr. Castillo shares his powerful insights on servant leadership, cultivating school culture, building relationships, coaching teachers, and developing future leaders. In Hispanic Stars Rising Vol. 4, he penned a moving and inspiring essay reflecting on his father’s journey, the struggles of poverty, and the triumph of perseverance. Currently, he is authoring Finish the Journey, a deeply personal narrative that follows his father’s path as a farmworker in the Bracero Program of the 1960s and the family’s pursuit of the American Dream. This forthcoming book delves into the challenges of life as a migrant farmworker, the transformative impact of education, and the importance of leadership and advocacy in ensuring the success of migrant students. Through his writing, Mr. Castillo amplifies the voices of migrant families and shines a light on the systems of support that create opportunities for future generations.
Miguel Castillo is a dynamic thought leader and contributor to the work of acclaimed podcaster and author Adam Welcome (Kids Deserve It!), engaging with a community of 69,000 followers across X, Apple, and Spotify. His most recent podcast appearance, Elevating Immigrant and Migrant Students with Miguel Castillo, features a compelling conversation with Pablo Muñoz, former superintendent, leadership coach, and author of The Leader’s Algorithm. The episode, available on Spotify, Apple, Buzzsprout, and Amazon, highlights Miguel’s strategies for empowering immigrant and migrant students through leadership and education. Beyond podcasts, Miguel actively shares transformative practices for supporting the most disadvantaged students—Emergent Bilingual, Economically Disadvantaged, Migrant, At-Risk, Special Education, Homeless, and students of color—on social media platforms like X, LinkedIn, and his dedicated Facebook page, Harvest to College. His insights inspire educators to champion equity and create pathways to success for all learners.
Miguel Castillo is a sought-after national keynote speaker who has inspired and empowered audiences across the nation with his compelling message of resilience, equity, and educational advocacy for migrant students and families.In 2016, he presented to migrant families in Region 1 (Edinburg, Texas), providing training and support to advance higher education opportunities through migrant programs.
Miguel’s bilingual approach has furthered his reach, delivering a Spanish keynote at the Community Action of Central Texas Summer Graduation in Bastrop (June 2024) and inspiring audiences at the Pflugerville ISD Hispanic Heritage Fiesta (October 2024).
His most recent keynote, at the Prince William County Schools SEL Symposium (October 2024) in Gainesville, Virginia, energized over 800 student services professionals, including counselors, social workers, and nurses. Prince William County Schools, serving over 90,000 students near Washington, D.C., benefited from Miguel’s powerful message on fostering student well-being and academic success. Miguel Castillo’s dedication to uplifting migrant families and students continues to make a profound impact, leaving audiences inspired to break barriers and create equitable opportunities for all learners.
Miguel Castillo's journey is one of resilience, determination and breaking barriers. The middle child of 10, he immigrated to the United States in 1980 and worked as a migrant farmworker alongside his family, traveling to Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan, and Florida from 1980 to 1995. His parents continued working in the fields until 2008, instilling a strong work ethic and commitment to education in their children. Miguel became the first in his family to graduate from college, paving the way for four of his siblings to earn Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees. His dedication to education led to an impactful career as an expert school transformation principal in Laredo ISD and Pflugerville ISD, including his roles as Executive Director of Elementary Schools in Austin ISD and as Director of Multilingual, Early Childhood, and Title III Federal Programs in Elgin ISD. Miguel is married to Dr. Alma Gonzalez de Castillo, Assistant Superintendent of Schools for Pflugerville ISD. Together, they are proud parents to three accomplished children: Nereid, Miguel Ariel, and Ernesto Clarence. Miguel’s personal and professional journey is a testament to the power of education, family support, and leadership in overcoming adversity and creating lasting change.
Let me motivate and inspire your students, staff, and parents by sharing my own personal journey through a powerful keynote and inspirational speech. Each speech is tailored to the audience but it is much more impactful for migrant, English Language Learners and newcomer students, including Spanish speaking parents. Keynote is based on the forthcoming book called Finish the Journey, a deeply personal narrative that follows his father’s path as a farmworker in the Bracero Program of the 1960s and the family’s pursuit of the American Dream. This forthcoming book delves into the challenges of life as a migrant farmworker, the transformative impact of education, and the importance of leadership and advocacy in ensuring the success of migrant students. Through his writing and speeches, Mr. Castillo amplifies the voices of migrant families and shines a light on the systems of support that create opportunities for future generations.
Let us help you create a framework and a path to college for migrant students. Migrant students have opportunities for college under Title I, Part C and the College Assistance Migrant Program. By creating a framework, educating and promoting college access and awareness, migrant students applying for college will dramatically increase. Our framework is a step by step framework created by Mr. Castillo, former migrant student himself, that involves parent participation, counselor support, monitoring and the application process. This framework can also benefit first generation students and newcomers.
Family engagement and training is challenging especially for newcomer families and immigrants. Parent training and engagement are required under Title I and Title III. Let us assist you on a plan to increase family training and support and at the same time increase dramatically your parent participation and be in compliance with federal regulations under Title I and Title III. Relevant and meaningful workshops for parents are the key. We can provide training and/or provide the sessions that will make sense to our parents.
With 31 years of education experience and partnering with some of the best results-driven experts and school supports to close the achievement gap, let us assist you with creating systems of literacy support in the early grades, leadership coaching, increasing parent engagement, increasing attendance, and increasing overall academic scores. These frameworks and systems have led to National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence and "A" Rated campuses with all distinctions in Texas. Some of our partners include National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Expert in school transformation Dr. Alma Gonzalez de Castillo. Dr. Gonzalez de Castillo turned a low performing school in one of the nation's most impoverished areas along the US/Mexico Border into a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 3 years and because of the systems in place, the school is still an academic powerhouse of academic excellence. Dr. Aradhana Mudambi, Harvar Univerity, an expert in dual language programs, implementation and professional development for multillingual programs. Emmy Award Winner and former Univision TV personality Leslie Montoya has partnered with us to increase parent engagement and deliver SEL support to EB parents. Early Literacy Expert Dr. Andrea Pawelek, in partnership with a non-profit organization, developed a framework in early literacy support (K-2nd) to decrease the number of struggling readers from Tier 2 and Tier 3 to on grade levels. This framework, aligned with many of the resources already in place, will exponentially improve reading literacy across grade levels.
WE CAN SUPPORT WITH:
1. Leadership Coaching & School Improvement
2. Early Literacy Framework for Kinder-2nd Grades
3. Framework for School Culture and Environment
4. Framework for Increasing Attendance and Enrollment
5. Framework for Increasing Parent Engagement (Title I & Title III)
6. Bilingual and Multilingual Professional Development
Let Emmy Award Winner and former Univision TV personality, the amazing and talented Leslie Montoya provide SEL support and sessions to your parents in Spanish. As we all know, our newcomer, immigrant and Spanish speaking parents as not as engaged in our schools, not because they don't want but because more often than not, they don't see a familiar face. Everyone knows who Leslie Montoya is and parents will enjoy her fun, relevant, meaningful sessions that are tied to their unique culture and heritage. Leslie Montoya can also provide the keynote in Spanish for parent conferences to empower them and be more intentionally involved in school.
My dad joined the Mexican Military in 1957 with hopes of a college education. Marrying my mom in 1958 and raising a family, he left the military to support his young and growing family. He joined the Bracero Program in 1960 and his dream of a better life and college education for his children began in the farm fields of Alamosa, Colorado.
After immigrating to the USA in 1979, our family began working as migrant farmworkers traveling to Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Florida. Migrant farmwork is among the most difficult and dangerous jobs out there, we learned crucial lessons in life but the most important lesson: education is the key. Our parents always pushed us to excel and pursue a college education.
After working in the fields from 1979 to 2008, my dad always promoted and supported education. Even though he did not get a college degree, 5 of us went on to college with degrees in Bachelors, Masters, and Doctors. Let me share this journey of inspiration, resilience and how the Migrant Education Program, Title 1, Title 3 and systems of support made it all possible.
Through hard work and sacrifices, my mom and dad built our first casita in Mexico in 1975. We lived here until 1979 when my family made the decision to seek a better life for all of us in the USA.
This was one year before we moved to the USA in 1979-80. We were 8 siblings and my older sister Sonia took this picture.
This was my dad picking stawberries in Dover, Florida at Harrel Farms in 1980.
My mom picking bell peppers at Saffold Farms in Waimauma, Florida in 1982.
My older brother and younger siblings helping my mom and dad pick oranges in 1980 in Bartow, Florida.
Me picking pickles at Mauch Farms in Lindsey, Ohio in 1987. A year short of graduation before going to college.