Overfelt HS, Class of 1987
Superintendent, Mt. Pleasant Elementary School District

Dr. Élida Sandoval MacArthur has over 30 years of educational experience. She began her career as an instructional assistant at Live Oak Elementary while a student at UC Santa Cruz. She later became a Resident Assistant for migrant students attending a summer program at the UC Santa Cruz Campus. Upon graduation, she worked as a bilingual kindergarten teacher at Pajaro Valley Unified School District.

In 1997, she began her career at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School District as a kindergarten bilingual teacher, and has also served as a teacher on special assignment, assistant principal, principal, Title VII coordinator, student services director, and assistant superintendent. Since 2020, she has served as Superintendent of Schools.

Throughout her career, Dr. MacArthur has worked to increase the instructional capacity and academic excellence for students and adult learners through safety net programs such as extended day programs, family engagement, Adult ESL, and professional development focused on continuous improvement efforts.

Under her leadership as Superintendent of MPESD, she successfully navigated the COVID pandemic, passed a facilities improvement bond and parcel tax, implemented a one-to-one technology device, consolidated schools due to declining enrollment, and established multiple partnerships with local community agencies and institutions of higher education to provide services to the students, staff, parents and the community-at-large.

As a result of these experiences, she is deeply committed to creating an environment where teachers and staff can achieve their maximum performance, so that academic achievement is no longer predicted by race, socioeconomic status, ethnicity or zip code. She firmly believes in enabling students to reach their full potential.

Dr. MacArthur is a native of Zacatecas, Mexico. She immigrated to San José at age ten. She attended Hubbard Elementary and Sheppard Middle School in the Alum Rock School District and graduated from Overfelt High School in 1987. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree and Teaching Credential from UC Santa Cruz, her Administrative Credential, and her Doctoral degree in Education from San José State University.

Dr. MacArthur has been married to George MacArthur for over thirty-three years and has three adult sons.