Her father Jackson Andrew Brookins was a chemist from Mississippi who was also an industrial relations executive for Eastman Kodak, and her mother Verna was a former social worker who was in charge of community relations at Polaroid as well as a district minister for the Pentecostal church. Dr. Santelises is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University. [7][8] She has advocated for literacy programs and stopping teacher layoffs. BCF always did its best to understand and connect into the core of our teaching and learning. [1] She received a bachelor's degree in English literature and International Relations from Brown University, a Master's degree in Education Administration from Columbia University, and a doctorate in Education Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University. The English Language Arts curriculum is designed for kids to learn about history, science, and the arts during ELA, because extensive research shows that background knowledge is critical to reading comprehension. But, districts are not using these better curricula. 2. The Most Popular Reading Programs Aren’t Backed By Science, Understanding the Fuss About Teacher Prep, The Least Worst School Reopening Idea: Elementary-First, The country’s top literacy researchers reviewed Teachers College Reading Workshop, Curriculum experts note that the issues with. Dr. Sonja Santelises has served as the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools since May 2016. Yet readers may not realize that Baltimore City Public Schools is ahead of the pack on strengthening instruction for all students, using specific levers for instructional equity.

or constitutionally protected attributes or affiliations, as outlined in Board Policies. So, Sonja Santelises can afford to “double down on the work we’ve done to elevate the quality of curriculum and instruction for all students.” She has a strong plan, and it’s working.

We need those superintendents – in fact, all educators, journalists, and parents – to look at the instruction in Baltimore, as well, to understand the source of her confidence and evidence of success. [1] Her father Jackson Andrew Brookins was a chemist from Mississippi who was also an industrial relations executive for Eastman Kodak, and her mother Verna was a former social worker who was in charge of community relations at Polaroid as well as a district minister for the Pentecostal church. 1. She has lived in Baltimore with her husband and three daughters since 2010. [12][13][14][15][16], "Sonja Santelises, the next Baltimore schools CEO, says: 'It can be done, "Brown Alumni Magazine - The Children's Crusader", "Spotlight on Black Educators: Sonja Santelises, CEO, BCPS | Afro", "Meet incoming Baltimore schools CEO Sonja Santelises", "Perspective | The importance of asking hard questions about what students learn in school", "Baltimore Public School Curricula Comes Up Short", "Dr. Sonja Santelises on Funding the Future of Baltimore City Schools", "Baltimore schools budget: Literacy coaches for high need schools, no layoffs", "RAW INTERVIEW: Baltimore City Schools CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises", "Beleaguered Baltimore reopens most schools minus icicles", "Fiery scorn for Baltimore officials after cold school crisis | Baltimore Brew", "Baltimore Schools' Heating Crisis A 'Day Of Reckoning' For The City And State", "Freezing classrooms spark heated debate over Baltimore's school infrastructure", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonja_Santelises&oldid=926122970, Teachers College, Columbia University alumni, Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni, American chief executives of education-related organizations, Bishop Fenwick High School (Peabody, Massachusetts) alumni, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 November 2019, at 10:54. And THIS is what equity looks like: doing the important instructional work to accelerate weaker readers in their development. Dr. Santelises began her career in education as director of professional development and teacher placement with Teach for America (New York). [2], She is married to Lew Santelises, who is an American hedge fund and private equity fund manager who founded Santelises Fund Management. “We must communicate and demonstrate our complete confidence in that capacity, by charting a pathway to success for each individual child. Most districts lag Baltimore’s work – which is both an issue and an opportunity.

She holds a Master of Arts degree in education administration from Columbia University and a Doctor of Education in administration, planning and social policy from Harvard University. In fact, the district increased reading proficiency in every tested grade last year.

In fact, we’ve witnessed growing outcry about weaknesses with the most popular ELA curricula in recent months: Most districts have a long way to go before their instruction looks like Baltimore’s. So, Sonja Santelises can afford to “double down on the work we’ve done to elevate the quality of curriculum and instruction for all students.” She has a strong plan, and it’s working.

She holds a Master of Arts degree in education administration from Columbia University and a Doctor of Education in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University. Both of her parents grew up in the Jim Crow south.She has a younger sister, Shahara, who became a college professor. These approaches are best practices for helping low-performing students catch up to peers. [2] Her family were Protestants, but Santelises went to Bishop Fenwick High School, a private Catholic high school.
In ELA, Baltimore does two things differently from most districts: 1. It will be remembered for its hip check to the “armchair policy elites” that have suggested costly mass retention of students. Walden University Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Dr. Denise Boston sat down with Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises to discuss their careers in education and experience in working with diverse student populations. I’m sure superintendents will cite Sonja Santelises in their decisions to promote all students to the next grade. The couple moved back to Boston, where Santelises enrolled in the selective Urban Superintendents Program at Harvard University. The real challenge is ours — as educators — to hold ourselves and our students accountable for their achievement.”. Most districts lag Baltimore’s work – which is both an issue and an opportunity.

Sonja Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Schools, just penned a superb editorial,We will not hold low-income students back a grade because of coronavirus. She returned to City Schools in July 2016 after three years as vice president for K-12 policy and practice at The Education Trust, a nonprofit organization focused on closing the achievement gap experienced disproportionately by African American, Latino, and Native students and students from low-income families.

[1] She has a younger sister, Shahara, who became a college professor. Dr. Santelises is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University. Sonja Santelises (née Brookins) was raised in Peabody, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. She has lived in Baltimore with her husband and three daughters since 2010. Sonja Santelises (née Brookins) was raised in Peabody, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. Also while in New York, Santelises met her husband, Luis, an entrepreneur and businessman. Closing ‘knowledge gaps’ is another equity imperative. [5][2][6] She has advocated for improving the curriculum as a way to help close the achievement gap, and has conducted audits to find out where students are receiving gaps in their education. She holds a Master of Arts degree in education administration from Columbia University and a Doctor of Education in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University. This is a critical move from an equity perspective. [9][10], In 2017, Santelises had to defend and explain how she would fix the district's $130 million budget deficit, which she inherited from the previous administration. Musings of an edugeek, curriculum evangelist, meme aficionado, and mom. Nous voudrions effectuer une description ici mais le site que vous consultez ne nous en laisse pas la possibilité. Dr. Santelises connects regularly in and out of schools with teachers, parents, and students. While other districts are scrambling to figure out how to deal with learning loss, Baltimore starts with a curriculum that was designed with the assumption that all kids would work with the same challenging texts, and some kids would need more scaffolding and support to catch up to peers. Facebook for Baltimore City Public Schools, Twitter for Baltimore City Public Schools, Instagram for Baltimore City Public Schools, YouTube for Baltimore City Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, Yet these virtues would be window dressing if not for the top-notch instruction. SONJA SANTELISES: I always think fondly of the authentic collaboration between us and our independent school counterparts in the many thousands of kids served in the Middle Grades Partnership. Walden Fireside Chat with Dr. Sonja Santelises.

The picture is a bit more encouraging in math than ELA (Baltimore uses high-quality math curriculum, too), but still sub-optimal. Throughout her career as an educator, academic, and administrator, Dr. Santelises has been steadfast in her belief that excellence in urban education is achievable at scale. Dr. Santelises is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University.

When other districts have taken this approach, their teams reported stronger outcomes for struggling readers. That’s a stellar foundation going into a school year when those gaps will be more acute.

So, it would be easy for other districts to emulate Baltimore by using Wit & Wisdom or another curriculum with similar virtues. increased reading proficiency in every tested grade, no evidence that leveled reading instruction works. They have three daughters, including two fraternal twins. For more detail on Baltimore’s literacy approach, check out this earlier blog about my visit to its classrooms. She says she hopes to stay in the job. Before joining Boston Public Schools, Dr. Santelises lectured on urban education for two years at Harvard University and spent six years as a senior associate with Focus on Results Inc., where she coached superintendents and trained school leaders in five major urban districts. As CEO of Baltimore schools, Sonja Santelises is seen as a stabilizing force in the city at a tumultuous time. A recent piece by Baltimore teacher Kyair Butts, Curriculum Matters Even More in a Crisis, offers another window into the value of Baltimore’s curriculum investments. Though she loved the program, she still wasn’t sure she wanted to commit to a career as a district administrator.


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