Natalie La Roche Pietri
Education ReporterNatalie La Roche Pietri is the education reporter at WLRN.
Before joining WLRN, Natalie interned at the Boston Globe on the Great Divide, a team dedicated to investigating race, class, and inequality in Boston-area schools.
She covered general news as an intern at the Miami Herald, and reported on camera covering politics in Washington, D.C, as an NBCU Academy Diversity, Equity and Inclusion fellow.
Natalie graduated from Florida International University with a double major in digital communications and English. She was the managing editor for Caplin News, a student media digital publication at FIU, and president of the Society of Professional Journalists at FIU.
Originally from Venezuela, Natalie grew up in Broward and speaks fluent Spanish. You can reach her at nlarochep@wlrnnews.org and follow her on X at @natalaroche.
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Last school year, more than 54,000 alerts were sent from Florida campuses. Nearly half — 0r 44% — were related to student behavior. Only 1% of alerts were related to suspicious activity and another 1% for a campus threat. -
As South Florida school districts predicting dwindling enrollment into next school year, the steady decline in birth rate will contribute to the dramatic year-to-year student loss. -
A local organization fostering reading comprehension and creative writing in Miami-Dade County schools recently took a group of elementary students into the heart of South Florida's wildlife to get them inspired by the wetlands' flora and fauna. -
Lubby Navarro, who was arrested in 2024, is charged with organized fraud and grand theft. Prosecutors allege that she racked up roughly $100,000 on a district credit card for extravagant personal purchases — like vacations and shopping sprees — for herself and others. -
Women are breaking through years of political underrepresentation in Miami. And as Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava approaches the end of her term she’s reflecting on her path to leadership during Women’s History Month — and warning of a dangerous time for gender equality. -
As the district crunches budget numbers based on dwindling enrollment, the district's chief financial officer says the district has to rethink how it does business and runs operations. -
School board chair Mari Tere Rojas said at Wednesday's meeting that the road ahead to choose a successor is "the most consequential decision" of every board member's tenure. -
Company under examination by federal authorities for $6 million contract under former Miami-Dade schools chief, Alberto Carvalho, in Los Angeles school district had extensive ties to South Florida, WLRN found, and secured a key contract with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district. -
Muslim groups, Democrats slam bill passage giving state power to designate 'terrorist organizations'Advocates for Muslim groups in Florida — along with Democrats — are blasting the Florida Senate this week for targeting their community in approving a bill that would give top state officials the authority to designate a group as a “domestic terrorist organization.” -
Since 2024, data shows an upward trend in passing rates for the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, or FAST. Despite improvement, gaps still remain across race and ethnic groups. -
A home in Southwest Ranches, in Broward, was searched by federal agents as part of a probe into Alberto Carvalho, the former Miami-Dade County district superintendent. It is the home of Debra Kerr, a former sales representative for AllHere Education, a failed artificial intelligence company that received a $6 million contract by Carvalho's new school district in Los Angeles. -
Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the Los Angeles school system, started working in Miami-Dade County Public schools as a teacher more than 30 years ago before serving as its superintendent. A home in Southwest Ranches, in Broward, was also raided.
