City Schools, February 2010

Q: Tell us a little about your background. What got you interested in education?
A. I grew up in Manhattan, between Washington Heights and Harlem. I’m a product of NYC Public Schools, graduating from Bronx High School of Science. After I graduated from Barnard College, I taught English as a second language (ESL) and Spanish language arts at a South Bronx high school. After a few years of teaching, I went on to the central Board of Education to work on the development of instructional programs for ESL students, and then to become an assistant superintendent—that was a very important time in my career, because it was during that time that I became involved in the creation of small schools, thanks to funding from the Gates Foundation. So, from 2003 to 2007, I worked with a team of 11 superintendents in the East Bronx who worked very hard to accelerate student achievement, build capacity in schools, and support the 53 new small schools I was a part of helping create.

All of that experience served me well, and in 2007 Chancellor Klein asked me to be one of the leaders of a new organization called a School Support Organization. So I went from being a regional superintendent to being a CEO, and I learned many lessons then because I started with no schools, no money and no staff. 

In 2009, when I got the offer to work in a cross-functional way as Chief Achievement Officer for Special Ed and English Language Learners (ELL)—to focus on populations with special needs and to act on the recommendations of the Garth Harries Report—that was a special opportunity. It was a tough decision because our organization was doing well and our schools were progressing, but it was a good match for me and it was time to move on to another leadership role.

“Once we heard about the devastation in Haiti, we knew we had to do something to help,” said Nayalyn Negron, president of the P.S. 205 student council in the Bronx. “How could we raise enough to ease the suffering of the Haitian people?”

It’s a question that students—and school communities—across New York City have been asking since an earthquake devastated Haiti January 12. Since then, schools have been singing, baking, designing, and organizing to raise money for the victims.

“Our school raised $2,008,” Negron explained proudly. “We designed, produced, and sold bookmarks and also had a bake sale.”

Students and faculty members at Brooklyn’s P.S. 274, The Kosciusko School, got to wear their favorite hats in school when they made donations. Their fundraiser, called Hats for Haiti, raised more than $1,400, which they sent to the Mayor's Fund to Advance NY for Haiti. To date, 94 City public schools, have donated $102,515.55 to the Mayor’s Fund.