Stacey and Ryan, the co-founders of eAdvance, have begun asking staff members to present at our weekly meetings about the eAdvance story and our roles in it. The following is my presentation from this morning.
I met Stacey and Ryan on January 19, 2012. They were two South Africans on a research trip to the United States in an attempt to find an educational model that combined academic excellence with a sustainable financial plan. When we met, I was a primary grades math teacher and emerging leader at Rocketship Education, a charter network that had, in many ways, achieved the vision Ryan and Stacey had set. Rocketship’s students had surpassed California academic standards, not only for low-income students, but for all California students. And, Rocketship had developed a financial model that would allow sustainable scaling across the United States.
eAdvance, as yet a non-existent company, was a product of Stacey’s studies, where…
On Saturday, I attended TedxSoweto, an independent TED conference focused on solutions to close the wealth gap in Africa. Before I spend this post bemoaning the state of the South African education system, I want to take a moment to acknowledge how incredible it is that Soweto was the site of a conference affiliated with…
read more »Five weeks ago, I moved to Johannesburg, South Africa to join eAdvance as the Director of Development and Leadership. It turns out that opening a primary school is an all-hands-on-deck sort of endeavor. Yes, I do develop curriculum, design professional development sessions, and hire terrific faculty, but I am also responsible for a number of…
read more »My students are featured on the band OK Go’s Facebook page for their simple machine drawings based on the music video “This Too Shall Pass” (http://vimeo.com/10977948). As a Do Now activity in spring 2011, they were instructed to watch the video, choose a favorite simple machine, and explain how the machine changed the direction of…
read more »Today marks one month since I left the Bay Area. In 11 days, I will move to Johannesburg, South Africa to begin my next adventure in education. I will serve as the Director of Development and Leadership for EAdvance, a uniquely South African education company that provides affordable private education to low income communities. Similar…
read more »Here’s to not falling into the blogging “catch-up” trap, where I recount what has happened since I last updated in June. Suffice it to say that there have been victories and defeats, personally and professionally. Every teaching day is still massively challenging, and I remain grateful for my students and their families, for my charter…
read more »Last Wednesday, the Santa Clara County Board of Education convened to hear a proposal from Rocketship Education to open 20 more charter elementary schools in the next 5 years. In terms of community impact, this would make Rocketship one of the two largest districts in San Jose by 2018. Students, families, and community members filled…
read more »It has been two months since my last post, and my mood has improved considerably. I went on a cute mini-vacation with my roommate to Mendocino, California (a tiny bed-and-breakfast town on the Pacific coast), visited a childhood friend in Seattle who lives on her sailboat, and road-tripped to Los Angeles last weekend. I am…
read more »Generally speaking, I try to keep this blog very positive. There is absolutely no denying that the first year teaching experience is hard. I can only speak for myself, but I know that my corps friends and I share an understanding that most days we are only surviving. Successes are intermittent, and when they are…
read more »On March 22, I had the pleasure of attending the Bay Area region’s first annual Benefit Dinner, which honored three families who have been integral to the Bay Area’s growth and impact. The event itself, for which individuals and corporations purchased plates and which featured an auction and paddle raise, ultimately raised $1.3 million. This…
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