About Me

As a college sophomore and junior, I still struggled to decide on a clear career path.  I was majoring in American Studies and Spanish and was considering law school or working for an international non-profit.  Between my junior and senior years of college, I took some time off from my studies and spent 18 months doing volunteer service work in New York City as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  There I lived in and worked with largely immigrant communities in Manhattan and the Bronx.  I spent a great deal of time teaching children and adults who, on a daily basis, grappled with the uniqueness and contradictions of their highly transnational and bicultural identities, coupled with the challenges of poverty.  I became more familiar with the landscape of bilingual education and developed a deep commitment to programs and philosophies that promote full bilingualism and biliteracy for children learning English.  My time in New York City allowed me to see firsthand the systemic educational inequities that exist between the nation’s rich and poor, and compelled me to get involved and do something to change that reality.  Upon returning to my studies at BYU, I explored a variety of ways to enter the teaching profession and, deeply inspired by Teach For America’s mission to close the country's achievement gap between rich and poor, between white children and children of color,  I chose that route into teaching.

During my first two years in the classroom, I realized that it would take more than one or two talented teachers to change a child’s life course and ensure their readiness for college.  Although the students in my classroom (and a few other classroms across the school) had made enormous gains over the course of each school year, they were performing at levels significantly higher than many other classes in the school and district, forcing me to realize that unless eliminating the achievement gap occurred at a school-wide level, their progress from a single school year was not likely to be sustained long term.  I recognized the enormous power school leaders—joined by a united team of dedicated teacher leaders—have to effect this type of change, and decided during my second year of teaching to pursue a career in school leadership.

These two years also marked my first experience with two-way immersion.  During my first year of teaching I was the Spanish teacher in a team-teaching 50/50 arrangement and then, during my second year, a self-contained teacher in a 90/10 classroom, delivering instruction in both English and Spanish.  I saw the tremendous potential this bilingual model had and, simultaneously, the disastrous results of poor implementation, lack of model integrity, and lack of investement and guidance from school and district leadership.

I then accepted a teaching position with IDEA Public Schools, a high-performing college preparary charter school system.  I taught 2nd and 3rd grades after which I accepted a position as the founding principal of IDEA Academy Mission, one of several new campuses IDEA has opened following the success of the original campus in Donna, TX.  IDEA Academy Mission is approximately 85% low income, 52% ELL, and 99% Hispanic.  IDEA Mission employs a school-wide 50/50 two way immersion model and has the ambitious goals of ensuring every child performs on or above grade level in literacy and math in their native language every year, and every child will perform on or above grade level in their 2nd language within 3 - 5 years of participating in the program.  Ultimately, our organization-wide goal is that 100% of our students will attend the four-year college or university of their choice.   While we still have many improvements to make, we're getting closer and closer to achieving those short and long term goals.  Here's a quick glimpse of last year's (2009-10) reading and math results:

Reading: % of students at expected EOY reading level

92% All

94% Low SES

92% ELL

95% Hispanic

Math: % of students mastering 75 – 100% of EOY math objectives

94% All

95% Low SES

95% ELL

94% Hispanic

We also saw significant progress toward our goal of all students either progressing 1 level or achieving a 4 or 5 (near native or native proficiency) in both English and Spanish on the Pre-LAS or LAS-Links language proficiency exams.  In 2008-09 63% of our students achieved this goal and in 2009-10 75% of our students achieved it.  Again, still lots of room for growth, but the progress is clear and significant.

I spent 3 years as principal before making the incredibly difficult decision just two months ago to step down from my position to pursue other opportunities that would allow me to spend more time with my young son.  The school is now in the capable hands of  Luzdivina Lozano, Principal, and Elizabeth Reiter, Assistant Principal.  Both were founding kindergarten teachers on the very first IDEA Mission team of teachers, and both are passionate and knowledgeable advocates of having high expectations of and excellent teaching for all children--particularly through a dual language approach.  The campus often hosts visits for teachers and administrators interested in learning more about two-way immersion.  You are more than welcome to contact either Mrs. Lozano or Ms. Reiter to ask questions or schedule a visit!

IDEA Academy Mission

1600 S. Schuerbach Rd.

Mission, TX 78572

(956) 583-8315

luzdivina.lozano@ideapublicschools.org

elizabeth.reiter@ideapublicschools.org

Our Neck of the Woods: The lower Rio Grande Valley of South TX
McAllen/Mission area

I'll now be working as a consultant, contracted by Texas High School Project to work as an instructional coach with PSJA ISD, a local district doing some really fantastic things, including some nationally renowned initiatives (a district-wide PK - 12 dual language program among them!).  I'll be shifting gears a little and will be coaching middle and high school teachers as the district expands their early college program from one school to the entire district.  My particular area of expertise will be supporting teachers with ELLs and helping them ensure these language learners are also on track for college.  I'm really excited about this new opportunity (not to mention the change from a 233-day contract to a 145-day contract--so many more days to spend with my son while still doing something  I love!)

In my spare time (a hot commodity!) I enjoy reading, songwriting, and figuring out new things on the computer.  My husband and I love dinners and movies and just spending time with our family.  We have an adorable rough-and-tumble two year old who always keeps us on our toes and who loves to go swimming, play trucks and cars, eat chicken nuggets, or practice karate.  I'm looking at dual language preschools for him to begin next year!

If you'd like to read more about my journey as a two-way immersion teacher and school leader, click here.