We're celebrating the amazing women that have founded DC public charter schools.
DC Public Charter School Board
Celebrating Women's History Month
In celebration of Women's History Month, we're spotlighting pioneers who have founded innovative public charter schools. To meet more of DC's education leaders, follow us on Twitter using #WomenSchoolFounders.
Stacy Kane is the Co-Founder and Executive Director for Washington Leadership Academy, a new school opening in August 2016. Stacy founded and ran multiple complex organizations within the United States Government during President Obama's Administration. Most recently, Stacy served as the Deputy Director of the White House Presidential Innovation Fellows program.
BB Otero is the founder of DC Bilingual PCS. DC Bilingual PCS provides an innovative dual immersion Spanish and English program for all students, regardless of their home language.
Megan Hubbard and Dominique Fortune were Founding Board Members of Lee Montessori PCS. Megan was the Founding Principal of the school. They both continue to be integral to the day-to-day operations of the school.
Candice Cloos Haney is the Principal and Co-Founder of Washington Global PCS. Candice began her career as a teacher in Title I schools in multiple districts. She also has a wide breadth of supervisory and policy experience, including the design and implementation of curriculum in DCPS and public charter schools across the District.
Elizabeth Torres is the Director and Co-Founder of Washington Global PCS. Elizabeth has extensive teaching, administration, and education policy experience. She taught special education reading and mathematics.
Shantelle Wright founded Achievement Prep PCS in 2007 as a Building Excellent Schools Fellow and has led the school to be one of the top performing schools in DC since its inception. Shantelle is a well-respected school leader and has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work in urban education.
Bernida Thompson is the founding principal of Roots PCS. Ms. Thompson has an Ed.D. in Early and Middle Childhood Education. She opened Roots PCS to offer a culturally relevant, African centered curriculum.
Jennie Niles founded the award-winning E.L. Haynes PCS in 2004. Under her leadership, the school was named the first winner of the CityBridge Foundations' Strong School Award.
Connie Spinner serves as the founding CEO and Executive Director at Community College Prep Academy PCS which was established in 2013. Ms. Spinner has been involved with adult education since 1970 when she first served as an adult basic education and ESL teacher at the Adult Education Demonstration Center.
Linda Ohman founded The Next Step PCS to provide at-risk youth with the tools and services they need to finish high school, complete the GED exam, and move onward to college or a vocational program.
Cristina Encinas is a co-founder and Principal of Latin American Montessori Bilingual PCS. In 2014, Ms. Encinas was nominated for Most Outstanding Principal.
Cassandra Pinkney has over thirty years of experience in the field of education. She began as an educational aid with the Prince George's County Public School system and eventually moved into an advocacy role at Howard University Hospital. Ms. Pinkney founded Eagle Academy PCS with the intent to provide DC's young children with special needs with the best possible attention and education.
Emily Lawson founded DC Prep PCS in 2012 and has led the growth of the organization from a single middle school to serving 1,500 students in preschool through 8th grade on five campuses. Emily's work at DC Prep has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Financial Times, NBC Nightly News, PBS Newshour, and many others.
Karen Dresden is the founding Principal of Capital City PCS. She was involved in all aspects of the start-up of Capital City including developing the curriculum, hiring and training staff, and developing the school's plan for accountability and assessment. Karen received the Major Achievement in Charters Principal of the Year Award in 2001.
Wendy Edwards served as the Founding Principal of Early Childhood Academy PCS and is now the Executive Director. Wendy oversaw the growth of ECA as its program expanded from prekindergarten to third grade and its student enrollment increased by 150%.
Linda Moore founded Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom PCS in 1998. She founded the schools with three basic principles: every student can succeed academically and become a responsible citizen, every student needs a solid foundation in reading, mathematics, social studies, science and the arts, and every student can contribute to the community through service activities that prepare that student to become a caring neighbor and responsible citizen.
Washington Yu Ying PCS was founded by a group of parents and educators with a passion for quality public education and Chinese language and culture. Part of this group were Mary Shaffner, Andrea Lachenmayr, Lisa Seachrist Chiu, Amy Quinn, Carmen Rioux-Bailey, Tia Carter-Jenkins, Sarah Harris, Denise Lyons, Manisha Modi, Colleen Popson, and Alejandra Maudet. Mary Shaffner and Carmen Rioux-Bailey also founded DC International PCS, an International Baccalaureate middle and high school.
Founder of Paul PCS, Cecile R. Middleton spent two years steadily challenging the status quo and gained nation-wide respect as a pioneer in the charter movement. Although she passed in 2008, Ms. Middleton left a legacy of excellence as Paul PCS continues to provide its scholars with an exceptional education.
In 2001, Susan Schaeffler founded KEY Academy, DC's first KIPP school. Schaeffler became KIPP DC's Chief Executive in 2005. Under her guidance and strategic vision, KIPP DC has grown from one school in 2001 to sixteen schools currently serving over 5,200 students.
Bridges PCS was founded by Andrea Walders Singer, Olivia Smith, and Erica Speight in 2005. The founding group's interest was to provide the DC community with a preschool program that has a child and family-centered approach to education and provides early intervention to students with special needs to ensure future school success. (Artwork credit: Bridges PCS students)
Sela PCS was founded by a group that consisted of a variety of women and men. Part of this founding group were Jessica Lieberman, Naomi Szekeres, and Clare Goldwater. Jessica continues to support Sela as a board member and Naomi participates on the finance committee.
Kaye Savage is the founder and CEO of Excel Academy PCS which opened in 2008 as Washington's first all-girls public charter school. Ms. Savage started her career as a certified special education teacher for low-income students in Prince George's County Maryland.
Emily Bloomfield is the co-founder and CEO of the newly opened Monument Academy PCS. Ms. Bloomfield has a vast knowledge of both the traditional and public charter school sector that will help her in leading Monument. Co-founder Marlene Magrino earned the position of Monument Academy's first principal in June 2015, after a demanding recruitment process. Ms. Magrino gained deep, multi-level experience in the education field, having worked as a teacher, assistant principal and campus director in charter and private schools in DC and Texas and eventually as the Director of the Aspiring Principals Program.
National Collegiate Preparatory PCS was founded in 2008 by Jennifer Ross and is the only IBO World High School east of the river. Jennifer began her career in education in Washington, DC in 2001 and under hear leadership National Prep brings the opportunity of international studies and travel to the community.
In 1998, Irasema Salcido founded Cesar Chavez PCS for Public Policy in Washington, DC. Her goal was to ensure that all students had access to a quality education. Under her leadership, the school expanded to serve 1,500 students. (Photo credit: Derek Lieu/The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
Golnar Abedin, Ph.D., is the founder of Creative Minds International PCS. During the last 15 years, she has worked with students in a variety of educational settings. She has taught at top private schools in New York City and Washington, DC and has served on school leadership teams.
Kristin Scotchmer is the lead founder and executive director of Mundo Verde PCS. Kristin lived in Guatemala for the first 13 years of her life and is bilingual. She has worked in philanthropy and nonprofit capacity building. She is a graduate of he University of Chicago.
Rev. Mama Paulette Jones-Imaan has been an educator for over 40 years. She is the founder of Ideal Academy PCS. She has won Teacher of the Year and Outstanding Service Award. She completed her BA in English and Education from Howard University in 1965 and is an esteemed member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Shannon Hodge is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Kingsman Academy PCS. She is a former high school counselor and has worked in education at the local, state, and federal levels. Ms. Hodge has served as a co-chair of the editorial boards of the Harvard Educational Review and the Stanford Journal of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties.
Deborah Dantzler Williams and Laurie Wingate are founding board member of Inspired Teaching PCS. She is an experienced educator who has taught students in elementary grades through graduate school. She was worked for Sidwell Friends, Beauvoir, The National Cathedral Elementary School, and Holton-Arms. (Photo credit: Inspired Teaching)
Dr. Linda McKay founded Mary McLeod Bethune Day Academy PCS in 2003. Dr. McKay sought to give Ward 7 parents a choice for their children's education. She wanted to offer families in the area small class sizes, foreign language, art, music, and PE. MMBDA serves students from the Brookland neighborhood and all over the city through bus transportation.
Sonia Gutierrez, founder of Carlos Rosario International PCS, is known for her excellent work as an adult educator and Hispanic rights activist. She began her education career in DC as a counselor in the Program for English Instruction to Latin Americans (PEILA) in 1972.
Jessica grew up on Capitol Hill and wanted to make a positive contribution to public education in her hometown. Jessica was one of the founders of Two Rivers PCS and the school's first principal. She began her education career as a third grade teacher in the Bronx through Teach for America. Jessica is now the Executive Director of Two Rivers PCS.
Christie McKay is the founder and Executive Director of Briya PCS, which partners with Mary's Center to provide educational services for children and parents. Under Christie's leadership, Briya received the New Territories Award and two Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year awards. Christie has over 20 years of experience coordinating family literacy, social services and Head Start programs.
Dr. Mary Johnson founded Washington Mathematics Science Technology PCHS which has created a socially diverse community grounded on a strong belief in high quality public education. She founded the school in 1998.
