Creating Spaces to Educate, Engage, and Empower: The Leadership of Dr. David Nieto

At Sparks Middle School, where the Youth Cinema Project gives students a platform to create, collaborate, and be heard, student voice is not a slogan. It is a structure. A culture. A daily practice. For Principal Dr. David Nieto, that belief began long before he stepped into a school as an educator. He grew up in West Covina as one of four boys, each around six years apart. His father worked in aerospace and his mother, an educator by trade, chose to stay home while her children were young. Being one of the few Hispanic families in the neighborhood at that time added quiet pressure to always try to be “extra good.”

The spacing between the siblings allowed their mother to spend one-on-one time with each child. They learned to read, write, mow the lawn, and take responsibility for their space. When one child was ready for school, she sent him off and began again with the next. As children, the brothers often played school, with David running the classroom, a rehearsal for the future he would eventually embrace.

History became his first academic love. He spent hours listening to his grandfather, a World War II veteran, share stories about his experiences and about building a home for his family. “I loved hearing his stories,” he recalls. Those early moments inspired him to teach history. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees, along with teaching and administrative credentials, all from California State University, Fullerton. “One thing I am is loyal,” he says. That loyalty guided him through nearly 20-year career within Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, where he has served in a variety of roles. For the past three years, he has led Sparks Middle School as principal.

He did not anticipate becoming a principal. Leadership evolved through experience, taking on grade-level roles, district committees, and teacher-on-special-assignment positions. Those experiences allowed him to see education more globally, understanding how advocacy and system-level decisions can positively affect students beyond a single classroom.

A defining initiative of his career is Project LEAD, or Life Experiences About Democracy, which he helped launch 15 years ago as a teacher at Sparks. The project gives students meaningful experiences with local government, countering the negative perceptions they often had based on warnings or restrictions from city authorities. Through a partnership with the City of La Puente, students visit City Hall, meet council members, and participate in community service. What began with two or three schools has since expanded into multiple districts.

The impact has been tangible. LEAD students served as a focus group for the redesign of La Puente Park. They advocated for a skate park to then-Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon, which resulted in a $1 million allocation to fund it. For Dr. Nieto, moments like these affirm a core belief that when students are given platforms to express themselves, they rise to the occasion. Whether through Project LEAD, the Youth Cinema Project, or other initiatives, the goal is the same: helping students see themselves as capable contributors.

Helping students feel seen has been a lifelong mission. “Once people feel seen and heard, they reach their hand out and help someone else be seen or heard,” he says. At Sparks, culture is the starting point. Programs like the Youth Cinema Project help students feel connected and can be the reason they come to school each day, to engage with a mentor, collaborate with peers, or work on a project that matters, all within the supportive environment he has built at Sparks.

Dr. Nieto believes leadership requires being both a mentor and a mentee. “You have to have people to look up to, to aspire to, to admire, but you also have to reach back and support the growth of others,” he explains. He traces that mindset to childhood lessons with his brothers. “My older brother taught me how to take out the trash and do chores. Once I learned, I taught my younger brother. You have to connect with people and show them lessons you’ve already learned so they don’t have to learn them the hard way.” Growth, he says, is communal.

From playing school in his garage West Covina to Principal at Sparks Middle School, the throughline in his career is consistent. He aims to create spaces where people belong, elevate student voice, and build systems that allow people to be seen and heard and ultimately reach a better version of themselves and then help someone else to do the same.