School Leadership Initiative

Currently, more than 570 Teach For America alumni serve as school leaders and superintendents in 37 states and the District of Columbia - impacting the lives of more than 500,000 students. By 2015, we aim to have 1,300 Teach For America alumni leading their own schools and districts. They will be joined by thousands of alumni who continue to teach, coach, and serve in schools across the country.

In 2006, Teach For America launched the School Leadership Initiative with the goal of increasing the number of qualified alumni pursuing pathways to school leadership by fostering structured relationships with district, charter, and graduate school partners on both the national and regional levels. These partnerships offer ready access to teacher-leader, school management, and professional development opportunities for alumni looking to build school leadership skills.

Partners

Teach For America partners with a wide-array of organizations, graduate programs, and school districts across the United States to provide our alumni with opportunities to receive high-quality training and professional development that will prepare them to become school leaders in districts and charter management organizations across the country.  The following list is an overview of the organizations, graduate, and hybrid programs that we currently partner with:

Organizations

• Building Excellent Schools
• Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP)
• New Leaders
• 4.0 Schools
• Achievement First
• Lighthouse Academies
• Master Apprentice School Leaders Program
• Rocketship Education
• Uncommon Schools
• Uplift
• Yes Prep Public Schools
• Imagine Schools
• Ryan Fellowship (Accelerate Program)
• New Schools for New Orleans

Graduate School Partners

Many of the nation's top education schools recognize the value that Teach For America alumni bring to their institutions. As a result, they offer corps members and alumni benefits, including two-year deferrals, waived application fees, and/or specifically created financial awards or fellowships. Some of the partnerships include:

• University of California Berkeley Principal Leadership Institute (PLI)
• Columbia Teachers College Summer Principals Academy (SPA)
• Harvard Graduate School of Education - Masters in School Leadership Program
• Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program (REEP), MBA for Professionals
• Arizona State University

Browse our complete database of graduate school partnerships.

Hybrid Programs
(Joint School District and Principal Preparation Program Partnerships)

• Chicago Public Schools and the Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Indianapolis Principal Fellowship
• Denver Public Schools and the University of Denver Ritchie Program for School Leaders

Alumni in School Leadership

Gordon Gibbings (Los Angeles Corps '99)

• Principal, Animo South Los Angeles Charter Public High School, Los Angeles, CA
• Taught fourth grade at Bixby Elementary in Long Beach
• Served for one year as the testing data coordinator at Jordan High School before becoming assistant principal, completing Long Beach Unified’s Aspiring Principals Program, and beginning an educational doctorate degree at the University of Southern California

Dave Hardy (Miami-Dade Corps '03)

• Founding Principal, Achievement First East New York Middle School, Brooklyn, NY
• Taught at Madison Middle School in Miami during his corps experience, and continued teaching there through 2007
• Earned his master's degree in educational leadership at St. Thomas University and worked as a curriculum support specialist, working to improve student achievement in two of the worst performing schools in Miami-Dade County

Nigena Livingston (Detroit Corps '02)

• Principal, University Prep Middle School, Detroit, MI
• Taught sixth and eighth grade science at Dursee K-8 in Detroit
• Served as a program director in Miami before becoming the director of instruction and a founding member of Cleveland Lighthouse Community School, a charter school started by alumnus Niloy Gangopadhyay (Bay Area '02) 

Marc Mannella (Baltimore Corps '98)

• CEO, KIPP Philadelphia Schools, Philadelphia, PA
• After completing his commitment to the 1998 Baltimore corps, taught science an additional two years at the high school level
• Accepted into University of Pennsylvania's educational policy doctorate program, but decided to pass on the opportunity to found and serve as the school leader for the KIPP Philadelphia Charter School

Linda Munro (Greater Newark Corps ‘02)

• Founder and Principal, Waterside School for Leadership, Queens, NY
• Taught for six years in public and charter schools as a second grade common branch and sixth grade math teacher before becoming a dean of students to support teachers in building a school-wide culture of high expectations
• Pursued school leadership through the New York City Leadership Academy Aspiring Principals Program

Contact Us

If you would like to learn more about the School Leadership Initiative and how we might be able to partner with your organization, contact sli@teachforamerica.org.