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Urban Teachers Announces New Executive Director for Washington, DC
Former Executive Director Jacqueline Greer becomes Chief Program Officer
Washington, DC, February 6, 2019—Urban Teachers, a unique teacher preparation program, has named Candace Smith as Executive Director of its Washington, DC site, who will continue the organization’s work of preparing culturally competent, effective, career teachers who accelerate student achievement and disrupt systemic inequity. Smith was Assistant Director at Urban Teachers, DC for six years and played an integral role in expanding the program — significantly growing the size of incoming cohorts and number of school partnerships.
Urban Teachers prepares educators to work in classrooms in Baltimore, Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington, DC. The organization was founded on the belief that qualified, highly effective teachers who stay in the classroom can have a transformative influence on student learning. Through a selective four-year program in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, future teachers earn a Master’s Degree in Education and receive one-on-one coaching as they become acquainted with the classroom.
“As a former DC educator and Urban Teachers host teacher, I’m excited to step into the Executive Director role with the aim of keeping teachers and students at the center of our work,” Smith said. “I am inspired daily by the commitment, passion, and dedication of our teachers, and believe that their work profoundly impacts our next generation of leaders.”
Smith replaces education veteran Jacqueline Greer who has been Executive Director for Urban Teachers DC since 2012. Greer will become the Chief Program Officer in the Urban Teachers national office. She will work across Urban Teachers’ three sites, to ensure Urban Teachers educators are effectively prepared for long-lasting careers in urban schools.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Candace build on the work we’ve done together over the last six years—she is going to be an incredible leader for DC,” Greer said. “My commitment to the DC community is unwavering and I will continue to live and work here, serving as an advisor to Candace and our other site executive directors, as I make every effort to deeply prepare and support our teachers in our programs across the country.”
Since 2010, Urban Teachers DC has grown from an inaugural class of 19 aspiring teachers to over 130 in school year 2018-19. Today, nearly 370 Urban Teachers educators are working in approximately 100 district and public charter schools, serving thousands of DC children. More than 80 percent of first-year teaching residents go on to become full-time lead teachers in their own classrooms.
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About Urban Teachers
At Urban Teachers, we believe great teachers are the key to combating racial and socioeconomic inequality. Our mission is to improve educational and life outcomes of children in urban schools by preparing culturally competent, effective career teachers who accelerate student achievement and disrupt systems of racial and socioeconomic inequity. Since Urban Teachers participants first entered Baltimore and DC classrooms in 2010, almost 1,000 Urban Teachers participants have served nearly 100,000 children across our three sites.
For more information, visit www.urbanteachers.org and follow us on Facebookand Twitter.