Beginning Aug. 30th, 2026, Dr. Sonia Fields, who currently oversees Title I services for the Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) DYS Education Initiative, will be assuming the role of Director of Teaching, Learning, and Innovation. Sonia has dedicated three decades to education as a teacher, administrator, and educational consultant, including thirteen years in leadership roles with CES. She began her career as a Spanish teacher before serving as Regional Director of the Massachusetts Migrant Education Program, experiences that shaped her commitment to educational equity and the success of multilingual learners.
Sonia is bilingual in Spanish and English and specializes in developing and implementing effective instructional supports for diverse student populations. She earned her Doctor of Education in Teaching and Learning from American International College in 2013. Her dissertation, Puerto Rican Boys and Factors That Influence Their Academic Success and Graduation from High School: A Look at the Role of Mothers, examined how maternal involvement and family engagement shape academic outcomes and graduation rates for Puerto Rican boys. Throughout her career, Sonia has remained committed to advancing educational equity, strengthening instructional practices, and expanding opportunities for multilingual learners and other historically underserved student populations. In her new role, Sonia will shape and lead the vast range of services that fall under effective teaching and learning across our DYS Education Initiative — including everything related to curriculum and instruction, as well as ensuring Title I services, professional development, and postsecondary services are aligned and connected to our guiding principles and priorities.
Said Woody Clift, Director of the DYS Education Initiative, “Sonia brings her curriculum and instructional expertise, deep knowledge and understanding of our unique system, appreciation for the complexity of our shared work, and dedication to making learning meaningful, engaging, relevant, and rigorous for all our youth.
We also celebrate the lasting impact that Laura Finn-Heafey, our longtime and simply amazing Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, has made on our Education Initiative. She will be retiring at the end of August. Throughout her tenure with the CES DYS Education Initiative, Laura has shaped continuous quality improvements across our education system that are youth centered, research based, cutting edge, teacher informed, and impactful. Most of all, Laura has combined her deep respect for educators and their craft, her knowledge and understanding of what works in the classroom, and her unwavering belief in the potential of all students to create resources, structures, and opportunities that allow students to grow and thrive. The foundation she has built is strong and leaves us poised to continue fulfilling our shared mission to improve the lives and futures of the youth we serve.”
The Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) has been a partner to the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) since 2003, creating access to high-quality secondary and post-secondary education, career exploration, and workforce development opportunities for youth in the care and custody of DYS. CES is helping to equip an especially vulnerable population of young people with the tools they need to see their world, and themselves, in a new light. Learn more about CES at www.collaborative.org.
