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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It’s the latest move in the war the state has been waging for years against sociology as a discipline. -
The total positions on the cutting table amount to 856. Of those, 353 are currently filled, with 53 being non-teaching roles related to school repurposing and closures. -
Former Miami-Dade County school board member Lubby Navarro was sentenced to more than a year prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to using up to $100,000 in district funds for personal, and often luxurious, expenses. -
The CTA declared an impasse in November after the district's offer, resulting in the state recommending a 3.5% raise for teachers. The district rejected the special magistrate's recommendation. The lack of resolution on the matter is an "injustice," said the teachers union president. -
If you're having writer's block, some young poets in Morningside K-8 Academy might help get the gears moving. They recently learned how to write their own masterpieces about the uniqueness of living in Miami. -
The award will go towards helping more than 9,000 Broward County high school students and about 14,000 middle schoolers from underserved communities. -
Last school year, more than 54,000 alerts were sent from Florida campuses. Nearly half — or 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.
