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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Some families using the voucher for students with disabilities have faced financial and emotional hardship due to payment delays, WLRN has found. Private school providers have also felt the ripples of mismanagement. More oversight is needed to ensure every student is properly funded, according to an influential Republican state senator. -
More than 80 students from sixth to eleventh grade were the first to participate in the online school’s “AI in Math” enrichment program. -
The dwindling enrollment in Miami-Dade County Public Schools is not because of competition posed by charter and private schools, the district superintendent said, but a waning of new students coming to the Miami area — including from fewer immigrants coming to the U.S. -
The Broward school board has outlined 16 elementary schools, 15 middle schools and three high schools as it considers the second phase of a long-term plan to mitigate the district’s chronic under-enrollment problem through closing, repurposing and consolidating schools. The first phase led to the contentious closure of a school in Lauderhill earlier this year. -
The immunization rate for Broward County kindergarteners has dropped to its lowest level in 15 years. About 82% of kindergarteners received the required vaccinations for the 2024-2025 school year, according to data from the Florida Department of Health. -
The proposal approved at Tuesday’s Miami-Dade County school board meeting instructs the creation of guidelines for the ethical use of AI in classrooms.
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Palm Beach County data found that 4,500 teachers have left their posts in the past five years, representing a loss of about 900 teachers a year.
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The extension of the state legislative session and delayed funds from the federal government shaped discussion at the budget's first public hearing. -
Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency may be taking a closer look at the Broward County School District. In a social media post, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier pointed to what he says are questionable contracts awarded by the school board. -
The $500 committed to each school sparked debate among school board members — who worry that $500 doesn’t cover the scope of student meal debt or solve student hunger. -
Anastasios Kamoutsas said his top priorities as Commissioner of Education are school safety and student achievement. -
The future of the Broward Teachers union hangs in the balance ahead of tallying a crucial recertification vote next week
