Leader Profile
I Finally Found My Place
When I was a kid, I used to run school in my backyard. I’d recruit my sister, the neighbors’ kids, whoever I could get — set up the chalkboard, write out the name tags, the whole thing. It happened every summer through middle school. Teaching was not something I just fell into; it was a passion I pursued from the very beginning. Over the past sixteen years, I have pursued education as a career, but it wasn’t until this past year that I found the place for that career to thrive at Excel Academy Rhode Island.
I’ll be honest with you: I wasn’t looking for Excel.
As a principal in a traditional public school, I’d watched so many fourth graders leave to start fifth grade at Excel. As a school leader committed to my community, I was furious. I felt like Excel was taking families who were devoted to our building and our community. I didn’t know much about the school, but this experience left me with many feelings about it.
And then I interviewed with Excel.
During the interview process, I noticed every member of the leadership team still teaches, including Directors of Curriculum and Instruction (DCIs) and the Head of School. Every single one of them was still responsible for a class of students. After years in environments where feedback came from people who hadn’t been in front of students in a long time, that mattered to me more than I could have explained in the moment.
And then during my sample lesson, one of my former fourth graders was sitting in the room. He recognized me immediately. I’d stayed in Providence all those years because I love the students, families, and community there.
I’ve been in education for sixteen years. I started with Teach for America Rhode Island, and I have a master’s in urban education from Providence College. I’ve led public schools. And I will tell you honestly that I have felt more growth here, in these months, than I felt in years at other places.
Part of it is the structure. My job here is singular: support teachers so that teachers can support students. I have a lane and a laser focus. Everyone around me has their own focus, and we actually collaborate across them. Although that sounds basic, it is also uncommon and powerful.
Part of it is the coaching. Weekly one-on-ones, real feedback (in both directions), and a Head of School who is genuinely reflective about her own growth all set the foundation for my work. When a leader models vulnerability, it creates permission for everyone around her to be honest about what they need too. I can walk in and say, “I need help with this,” and not feel like I’m admitting a failure. I can say, “Here’s what I want to try,” and feel trusted to try it.
I had been looking for this environment for a long time.
Now I want to show, rather than just tell, what this looks like.
Floyd is one of my fifth graders. He came into the year struggling — with organization, with follow-through, with the habits that are going to carry him into sixth, seventh, eighth grade. His agenda wasn’t making it home. Homework wasn’t getting done. There was a gap between what Floyd was capable of and what was showing up.
His mom, Yesenia, and I started texting. Multiple times a day, every day. Not formal updates, but real back-and-forth. I’d send a photo of his completed homework, a note about whether the agenda made it home, a message about something that had clicked. She’d ask questions, tell me what she was seeing at home, hold up her end of the plan. We didn’t let the loop drop.
Now, when I walk into his classroom, he sees me coming and goes straight to the homework area. He knows what’s expected. He’s started to expect it of himself.
By the second trimester, Floyd had turned it around. He earned a PACK award — our recognition for students who serve as a Contributor to Community Care.
Yesenia came to the award ceremony and told me something that I keep coming back to.
“I’m so proud of his growth,” she told me. “At Excel, Floyd’s teachers see his capabilities, and hold him accountable to meet his own expectations. We’re not there yet, but we are building something here, and I see that in my son in small ways every day and in big ways like his award for contributing to the community. I was worried before. Now I have a sense of calmness when I think about his future.”
A sense of calmness when I think about his future.
That’s why I’m here. That’s why I text families from my personal phone and why I stayed in this community when I could have gone somewhere easier. This is the work. And for the first time in a long time, I have enough focus and enough support to actually do it.
