Black School Leaders to Watch in 2021

Here are some things I want to see more of in education:

• More Black School Founders
• More Black School Leaders
• More Black School Board Members

Yep. You read that correctly. I want to see more Black faces creating, leading, and advising schools. Without being long-winded I will tell you why I want to see more of this. The "why" is simple: Black students. Period.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) tells us that, in the United States, public school teachers are overwhelmingly middle-aged white women (76% female and 79% white). This isn't the newsletter to discuss it in detail but I hope you see that an overwhelmingly white teacher pool cannot adequately relate to or reach the increasingly diverse student population in the US.

The other reason why I care about Black school founders, leaders, and board members is that I am Black and I care about Black children's education. Ain't no other way to slice that one. Being able to see ourselves in school leadership and in front of the classroom (we will talk about this at a later date but just know I am using it as an expression only) has never been more important.

Furthermore, school leadership is truly a thankless job. There are lists for everyone. Realtors, entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, tech, finance, entertainment. You name it, there is a list celebrating the best and brightest.

We here, we celebrate what is right in education. Not just what is right in this moment but I want to inspire and challenge you by highlighting leaders who are literally shaping the future of learning.

So here are some AMAZING Black School Founders and Leaders you need your eyes on in 2021.

Reuben Ogbonna, Co-Founder and Executive Director at Marcy Lab School

From teaching math at Uncommon Schools to school leadership at Coney Island Prep to leadership coaching with Teach For America to working as a Teaching Fellow at Flatiron School, Reuben has the "chops" and the deep expertise in teaching, learning and leading.

The first thing to know about Marcy Lab School is that they are based in Brooklyn so that makes them cool. Right? Things and people from Brooklyn are always really cool! I mean this school has a therapy dog named as their Cheif Culture Officer! That's the kind of cool I mean.

"The mission of The Marcy Lab School is to create an alternative pathway into high-growth tech careers for underrepresented and underserved youth."

Marcy Lab School seeks to create alternative pathways into tech careers for underrepresented and underserved youth. In other words, they are helping Black and Brown folks find careers in tech.

They've got three pillars that define their solution:

1. "Prepare students to be engineers through a project-based curriculum that is grounded in first principles but driven by real-world application."
2. "Prepare students to be professionals through mentorship, apprenticeships, and leadership development."
3. "Prepare students to confront the inequity that exists in the professional world by promoting critical awareness and by cultivating a supportive learning community that persists through the end of the program and beyond."

Their core offering is a software engineering fellowship for ages 18 and up that is designed to lead directly to entry level employment as a software engineer. This fellowship not only focuses on teaching javascript (if you know you know) but more importantly how to think like an engineer which I believe is so much more impactful that just knowledge. With this offering, they are thinking about learning and work in ways that map strongly to a future of learning that has yet to be defined. In short, they are shaping what learning, training and work looks like in the future.

Amazing right? The day I learned about Marcy Lab School I could NOT stop talking about the amazing work they are doing. Inspiration doesn't sum it up for me. Energizing is more the word I feel when I think about the Marcy Lab School.

Jonathan Johnson, Founder and CEO of Rooted School

I don't know if there is a better way to tell you how excited I was when I learned about Rooted School other than this: OH MAN IS THIS AN AMAZING SCHOOL!

Please read that as if I am yelling with my eyes wide and hands high in the air in celebration of awesomeness. I feel that strongly about the work Jonathan Johnson, Rooted School's Founder and CEO, is doing there. Why? Because Jonathan is leading a school that will challenge the way students find themselves taking the next step to college or a career after graduation.

"When I think about my work, I think about the difference between surviving and living." - Jonathan Johnson

I grew up poor. Like really poor. I remember one day my mother sitting at our small kitchen table opening envelopes. My mother was a single mom, raising three boys with no help from anyone. We soon came to learn that those envelopes were bills. We also knew that when the paper was pink, it meant something was going to get shut off. The look on my mother's face when she ripped that taped, yellow sheet of paper from the front door of our apartment complex I will not forget. Never.

So I understand exactly what Jonathan felt when he recalls seeing this look on his mother's face. I'll let him tell it as he gives the origin of Rooted School:

Phenomenal story, I know. Take a moment to sit with that story.

Rooted School is based in New Orleans but has a campus in Indianapolis and one other location that I am keeping to myself! Follow Rooted School's journey to find out more about that but just know that I think it is a BIG deal.

In a nutshell, Rooted School seeks to answer a really tough question: Can you prepare kids for the workforce and an entry level career at the same time to provide a student with a two options that both lead to better outcomes for their lives?

They do this by partnering with local companies in order to find out what skills students need then they backwards design to build those skills in students.

Schools like this will change the world of education by providing students with good options. This is what making school count looks like.

Mikala Streeter, Founding Principal at The LIFE School

It's not everyday that you meet someone building the project you hope exists. For me, that comes in the form of school. The schools I dream of are filled with big, bold, ideas that challenge the way we think about teaching and learning. I believe deeply in schools that teach academics, yes, but that fight really hard to students to see the connections between those academic skills and things like careers, passions, personal interests or community service.

You might have guessed this already but Mikala Streeter is building and leading that school. She doesn't just talk about disrupting education. She's doing it.

"We're really disrupting the way we educate teenagers here in this city."

-Mikala Streeter

Before the LIFE School, Mikala worked as a teacher, curriculum writer, coached teachers from around the world, and co-founded an EdTech company focused on college success. She's a graduate of MIT and Stanford, a 4.0 Schools Fellow and has presented at SXSW EDU.

The LIFE School is a self-directed, project based high school. Here is what this means: 1) It's awesome! 2) The primary focus of the school day is not on direct instruction/lecture. The most important thing that happens each day is the execution and facilitation of projects as learning and teaching tools. Every course is designed around real-world projects. 3) The student's interest drives EVERYTHING. So they don't just do what they're told. They work on projects that interest them which normally results in a deeper level of learning. Students also complete two internships related to their career goals by the time they've graduated.

The LIFE School is allowing students to truly design their own education. If you are reading this and think, "WOW! I bet students love it there." You'd be right. But don't take it from me, take it from them:

Keep your eye out

Watch.

In 2021, watch them work.

Beyond 2021, watch them work.

These amazing BLACK school leaders are fighting for a radically different future of learning. They are bringing the future into the present and for that, I am grateful to them.

Keep your eye on these folks. They are changing the world.

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Thank you for taking the time to read this edition of Schoolish: The Newsletter. This is the newsletter that accompanies the Schoolish Podcast which you listen wherever you get your podcasts. On the show, I seek to use stories of everyday people as data in the conversation around education reform, change, and reinvention.

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