Chalkbeat

ICE detained her students. This Minnesota superintendent couldn’t keep quiet.

2026-02-13T21:22:04+00:00

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The morning after federal immigration officers detained two Columbia Heights Public School District students in one day, including 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, Superintendent Zena Stenvik woke up with one thought.

“We need justice for 5-year-olds and all these other children,” she thought.

The superintendent called her school board chair at 6 a.m. She was ready to speak publicly.

In the weeks leading up to that morning, as a surge of immigration enforcement crushed the Twin Cities, Stenvik had hoped her district in the inner-ring suburbs of Minneapolis would fly under the radar.

But those weeks took their toll on the district of roughly 3,400 students: Agents circled its schools “constantly throughout the day,” Stenvik said. Agents came on school property. ICE raids nearby drove recess inside.

Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik

“We felt that we couldn’t have any larger target on our back than we already had,” she said.

During an ensuing press conference, Stenvik and others told reporters what they knew: The story of students detained on their way to school, and of Liam, whose blue bunny hat became a symbol of the toll that immigration enforcement has taken on young children.

She felt compelled to speak for her community, she told Chalkbeat in an interview.

“When it’s impacting children, that is my business,” she said. “When it’s impacting our families and our communities, that is my business.”

The past month has altered Stenvik’s district, with fewer students in the classroom and more online. The disruptions are so severe that Twin Cities districts are considering asking for waivers to state testing requirements, she said.

Nearly half of Columbia Heights students are English language learners, and the district expected to feel the effects of increased immigration enforcement. The district began working with an immigration law firm and trained staff on what to do if an agent came to the school.

Instead, parents have been abruptly detained, and students have been stopped on their way to school. Seven students have been detained so far this year, and two are still at the Dilley Detention Center in Texas.

“We were prepared for an ICE agent to show up with a judicially signed warrant,” she said. “We were trained on what to do with that scenario, right? That’s not happening at all.”

For Stenvik, who grew up in the Twin Cities and has worked at Columbia Heights since 2007, her work is centered around community, she said.

“We’ve got our core values and we’re really showing them,” she said. “There’s so many different people… even if they’re doing one small thing to contribute, they’re doing it, whether it’s parents standing on street corners or people delivering food.”

Stenvik spoke with Chalkbeat on Tuesday. On Thursday, border czar Tom Homan said he was winding down the enforcement surge in Minnesota. Local officials have expressed both relief and skepticism. Stenvik said she would welcome a drawdown, especially one that would allow students to return to the classroom.

Stenvik discussed how the district has confronted the crisis in her community, what she’s learned from her long career teaching students from around the world, and the moments of joy she’s witnessed during a dark time.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Department of Homeland Security officials have said they are not targeting schools or students. Does this reflect your district’s experience?

This morning, behind one of our elementary schools and behind our high school at around the time where children are coming to school, there were three or four ICE vehicles parked right behind our school, so they’re very present during arrival and dismissal time. I mean, the Dilley Detention Center exists because they’re detaining children, right? Our children who went into the Whipple [federal] building, and our staff members who went with them told me that they have cartoons playing. They’ve got a stack of children’s books. So children are being impacted.

I had multiple teenagers who were just driving to school, they were pulled over. At this point, our children are carrying their passports and whatnot and they weren’t apprehended. They were able to come to school. But when you’re surrounded by six or eight masked armed men who are not identifying themselves, who are shouting different orders, and you’re a 17- or 16-year-old kid just trying to get to school, it’s very traumatizing and very impactful.

How do you stay in contact with students who have been detained?

We start making phone calls and get a hold of family members to see if they have any more information. And then we have a list of different immigration attorneys who are in Texas and here in Minnesota as well, who are willing and able to support the families. And all of the cases that I’ve personally been involved in are people who have some sort of legal status.

We had a mother who went to her regularly scheduled immigration appointment, and then was detained there, even though she was following the law and following the rules.

How do you welcome students back when they return?

There are different community members and organizations who have been helping to get them a ride home from the airport.

We have a mobile clinic that we’re working with, and they’ll go to the child’s home and give them a checkup because they’re coming home sick. They’re all coming home sick. We have mental health providers at our school who are connecting with them, social workers, school psychologists, and therapists who are connecting with them.

Yesterday, some of our teachers from Valley View Elementary School went to one of our students who came back, and brought them pizza and groceries, and all of their teachers showed up that they’ve had over the years.

We’re trying to have this balance of giving them privacy and time to settle back in with determining what their needs are in terms of mental health and just basic needs like food and supplies.

How do you balance students’ academic needs when there’s so much happening outside of school in the community?

Our teachers are doing a phenomenal job of continuing to teach and to teach the academic standards. But they’re also balancing out their lessons with just providing time and space if kids want to talk about it or write, there’s art projects happening.

I’ve been working with other districts here in the metro area, and we are going to be seeking any sort of reprieve from some of this state testing that has to happen because it’s not going to be an accurate reflection of the academic prowess that our students have.

You once taught English learners. In the midst of a crisis that disproportionately affects them, what should people know about these students?

When I was an EL teacher, my students brought the whole world into my classroom. And people always think the teachers are giving all of the knowledge, right? But I learned so much from my students. At one point, I had 12 different languages in my classroom.

When I was in kindergarten in St. Paul Public Schools, that’s when the Hmong refugees came over [in the 1970s and 1980s]. So I remember being a kindergartner and having Hmong classmates and learning about them and their culture as peers. In recent weeks, there have been ICE raids at Hmong households. So many people likely don’t understand why Hmong people came to Minnesota and [how they rescued] many of our own American pilots during the war.

It’s just taking a moment to, rather than judge, learn and listen first.

In another interview, you said, “Education is such a joyful career.” What moments of joy have you felt recently?

In some of our really darkest weeks, I texted all of my principals, and I said, ‘Your assignment today is to find one moment of joy and share it with each other on this text chain.’ It’s important to not fall into despair.

This morning, before I came into my office, I stopped at two different elementary schools. Just seeing the kids at this point, in the wintertime in Minnesota, watching little children get all their snow gear off, it’s just quite a sight to see, so adorable.

I went around and saw the small class sizes, because we have many kids online at this point. But our staff and our teachers are continuing to provide these joyful classrooms. In our elementary schools right now, there’s hearts everywhere for getting ready for Valentine’s Day.

After they’ve been stopped by ICE agents on their way to school, I’ve been meeting with [students] individually, just to check in and see how they’re doing. I’ve heard different statements over the last month, like, ‘Why do they hate me?’

So I’m asking children and staff, ‘Do not internalize this. You’re good. You are. We want you here. You belong here. We love you.’

Lily Altavena is a national reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Lily at laltavena@chalkbeat.org.

Border agents detained this Vermont superintendent. This is his story.

2025-07-29T10:00:00+00:00

Wilmer Chavarria was 5 when he began selling bread with his mom on the streets of Ocotal, Nicaragua, in the country’s northern mountains.

“We tried to do whatever we could do to survive,” said Chavarria, whose family had been displaced during Nicaragua’s bloody civil conflict. “That’s how I grew up. So when I think about the communities we are trying to protect now, to me, they’re not hypothetical.”

Chavarria, now 36, leads the Winooski School District in Winooski, Vermont, near Burlington. The district serves about 800 students, including many immigrant families who fled war, persecution, and poverty in their countries of origin.

Last week, Chavarria, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was traveling back from visiting his family in Nicaragua when he says federal agents detained him without explanation for hours at Houston’s international airport. Officials separated Chavarria from his husband and demanded access to his personal and district-issued devices.

Chavarria granted them permission to review his personal data — emails, texts, and photos — but explained that federal law prohibits him from releasing student information without a judicial order or a guardian’s consent. He also cited Winooski’s new sanctuary district policy, which limits federal agents’ access to school buildings and student data.

To gain entry to his devices, “They threatened me with sending me to the FBI, with making me lose my job, with tainting my record, so I would never get another job. They threatened me with extended detention,” he said.

Chavarria said he did not grant agents permission to review district files, but he fears student information may have been compromised while they searched his devices.

A spokesperson with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, did not respond to questions about why Chavarria was detained and whether or not agents agreed not to access student data on his devices. In an emailed statement, the spokesperson said that inspections at ports of entry help combat serious crimes and that travelers are treated with dignity.

“All travelers entering the United States are subject to inspection, a process that can take time depending on the circumstances,” he said. “These essential inspections safeguard national security. CBP cannot disclose information that could compromise law enforcement intelligence.”

In an interview, Chavarria told Chalkbeat about his recent ordeal, why he pushed for Winooski’s sanctuary district declaration earlier this year, and how his detention will change his advice for immigrant families.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why was it important to you to make Winooski a sanctuary school district?

It only made sense for a school district that is the most diverse in the state to also be the one advancing policies that tell our families that we got their backs. And we’re not going to break the law by any means, but we’re not going to willingly compromise their information and their rights.

Not everyone in the community was on board, though. What kinds of pushback did you hear?

There were multiple things, the first one being, “Why are you calling attention to yourself? You’re just going to get Trump angry, and he’s going to take away funding from you.” Our response was, “He’s going to take funding away from us anyway.” So we’re not going to comply in advance. We’re not going to be cowards just because we want to keep the money.

The second argument was that this was not really a problem, that there’s already a law that protects student privacy. They said talking about this only causes more fear.

The whole point of being a different school district is to affirm how our students are unique and make policy and create practices based on that uniqueness. There are things we have to say out loud. And when you say, “You’re just going to create fear,” I’m like, “The people I’m talking to right here in my office are already terrified,” and the least we can do is send a message that we are with you.

You travel to Nicaragua to see your family regularly. What was different this time around?

I usually go through the Global Entry line because for years I’ve had Global Entry. You go for interviews and submit documentation, so I’ve always been a low-risk traveler and have never had to spend more than a few seconds at a port of entry. I didn’t expect anything different, especially being a U.S. citizen and doing this trip multiple times a year.

But this time, they stopped me in the line and called for someone to escort me into an interrogation area. [It seemed] clear that I was in the system before I even got there, but they didn’t disclose the reason.

They start separating me from my spouse, and my husband is saying, “We are married; we should not be separated unless he is being charged with something.” And the officer looks at us like he doesn’t believe us, like with a face of disgust.

I was sent into detention with no access to a phone call, no access to lawyers, no access to communications with anyone, and no access to any of my electronic devices. My husband was sent outside the airport, and every time he tried to come back to look for answers, he was met with extreme verbal aggression and intimidation. He just waited in the baggage claim area for four to five hours with no communication from me, no idea what was going on. That is the definition of psychological terror.

What were your worst fears in that moment?

My family has survived war, survived the worst that humans can do to other people. So being disappeared is not a new thought to me. And so I was less afraid about my physical safety and being disappeared than I was about what would happen to my family and to my spouse, who is outside, terrified, not knowing what’s happening to me. I was afraid of what this would mean for my mother. And I was afraid of what this would mean for the families and the students whose information might be compromised.

You said the officers who detained you tried to access your personal and district-issued devices with protected information on them. What did you tell them?

I continued to say, “I am consenting for you to search through my personal data, from texts to pictures to files to emails. You may not do that for our district data. You may not look through family or student information.”

Did they end up looking through your devices?

They did get access to the devices. They were the ones who finally said, “We promise you we’re not going to look through district files.” So I thought they were going to look through my devices, and I was going to see what they were looking through, but no. They took the devices away, and when they came back, maybe an hour later, I just had to take their word for it. … I’m not going to assume that they didn’t look through district data.

Did you tell your school community about a possible exposure?

After I was released, that same night, I wrote a lengthy letter to the school board, letting them know what had just happened, that the district information may have been tampered with. As soon as I arrived back to Vermont, I began to change my passwords.

The community has been informed … and is rightly very much concerned. The school district is calling on the different authorities to investigate this and to take very seriously the fact that student and family information may have been compromised and accessed illegally, when there was at no point consent for that to be the case.

Will your detention change what you tell your students?

I’m now finding out that my high school students knew better than I did because before this happened to me, I would have students in my office saying, “My family or myself, we’re thinking of traveling, but not sure. What do you advise us?” They saw me as someone who knows about immigration things, because I am an immigrant.

I would say, “Do you have a U.S. passport?” If they said yes, I would tell them, “You have nothing to worry about. You have constitutional rights, and you may not be denied entry into the United States, so please don’t worry so much.” My advice to students is definitely going to have to change because I have nothing but conviction now that having a U.S. passport and being a U.S. citizen doesn’t guarantee you rights.

Can you tell me about what brought many of your immigrant students and their families to Winooki?

We do have a high percentage of immigrant communities who are refugees from areas of conflict, who have gone through political situations that make it no longer safe for them to be in their home country. We have students from multiple African countries that have been or are going through terrible things. We have families from Syria. We have families from Nepal or Bhutan, who may be stateless. We have people from Latin America, fleeing persecution or extreme poverty. We also have people of privilege in their home countries who decided they want to immigrate to the United States and now live in Winooski. So it’s as diverse as it comes.

I know many school districts are doing Know Your Rights workshops for immigrant families. Are you planning anything like that this coming school year?

We’ve done multiple Know Your Rights workshops. We have an education station in the lobby of the district [office] with Know Your Rights materials in all the languages we serve. We have a home visiting program where we send a liaison who knows about rights to people’s homes to have conversations with them. There’s so much that we’ve been doing the past eight months or so that other districts, both in the state and across the nation, reach out to us for advice.

Last month [before I was detained], we were already preparing the agenda for the staff convocation for the opening of the school year. And the main thing, instead of bringing in a speaker, what we are doing is bringing students from different migrant communities to talk about the background of our communities and what geopolitical dynamics brought them here. Every staff member will be asked to rotate through two different language communities and learn about the history of those communities here in Winooski.

As someone who chose to immigrate to the U.S., to make your life here, to make your career here, how are you processing what happened to you last week?

I feel sad because I do not feel safe here. Every chance some people get to tell me that I don’t belong here and that I’m not wanted, they use it. But I feel even more saddened for the country as a whole, even people who are not immigrants, because we’re already in new territory where the character of the nation has been compromised, and where this country is almost unrecognizable. I think it’s not going to be too long until it’s too late to fix.

Gabrielle Birkner is the features editor and fellowship director at Chalkbeat. Email her at gbirkner@chalkbeat.org.

Longtime Newark principal reflects on parent engagement, supporting undocumented families

2025-07-17T10:00:01+00:00

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Michael Mann became a principal at North Star Academy Charter School in 2005. To mark 20 years in that position, Mann reflected recently on the winding road that led him to a career in education.

“I entered education accidentally,” said Mann, who now serves as head of school at Washington Park High School, part of the North Star Academy system in Newark.

After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1991, Mann pursued a career in foreign service in the U.S. State Department. He had been interested in working in government and studied Chinese languages for years. He quickly realized, however, that foreign service wasn’t the path for him.

“I left government work with the goal of living in Asia, but the only way I could afford it was to teach English,” Mann said. “That experience changed my life.”

The turning point led to a 32-year career in education, including two decades as a principal at North Star schools, one of the largest charter school systems in Newark.

“I really loved teaching and was good at it,” Mann recalled. “When I returned to the United States, I decided to apply to Teach for America because it seemed like the best way to create positive social change. I was right.”

The veteran educator recently shared with Chalkbeat some advice for early-career educators, his thoughts on education policy affecting his school community, ways he stays engaged with families, and more.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What was your first education job? What made you want to become a school leader?

I first taught in the District of Columbia Public Schools for three years. Then, I taught for two years at a charter school in Massachusetts. During that time, I worked with lots of great people, but I did not see good examples of leadership. After getting my master’s degree in teaching from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education in 1998, I wanted to get back into urban education.

I visited North Star Academy in Newark, even though I had never been to New Jersey. I met Jamey Verrilli and Norman Atkins, co-founders of North Star Academy, and knew that I was in the right place. I had never met such committed, honest, blunt, transparent leaders. They scared me and inspired me. After seven years of watching Jamey run our middle school, I offered to start our second middle school. That is now our Clinton Hill Middle School.

Tell us about your own experience with school and how it affects your work today.

I did not have great teachers. Some of my teachers were charismatic narcissists, and I saw how ineffective and selfish they were. That has made me wary of teachers who want to be the center of attention. I don’t believe that those teachers are effective. From my experience, the best teachers are humble, nerdy, former athletes. They know how to work together, they understand perseverance, and they put the goal of student growth and achievement above other things.

Can you share an experience, recent or not, with a student that changed your perspective or approach to an issue?

I have control issues. I prefer order and structure because I think it promotes safety and success. But a few years ago, one of our senior class leaders asked to do a walkout to protest gun violence in schools. I tried to talk her out of it, but she was very determined. So, we planned it out. Almost the entire school participated in the walkout in Harriet Tubman Square by making signs, giving short speeches, releasing balloons, etc. The students organized all of it. I just watched, impressed. It was in the news. After it was done, we all walked back to the school and finished the day. Interestingly, the former senior class leader who organized most of it is now my colleague at Washington Park High School. She is an excellent special educator!

After 20-plus years in the field, what’s the best advice you have for educators starting out in their career?

Good intentions aren’t enough. In order to be an effective teacher, you need to spend time really preparing and paying attention to student work. Most teachers don’t spend enough time looking at student work.

What issue in education policy is having a big impact on your school right now? How are you addressing it?

We all need to do more to support undocumented students and their families. Schools need to communicate to all families that their children are safe at school and that we will do everything to protect them.

This spring, we did a project where we put up framed, permanent posters all around the school and at all of our entrances — in English and Spanish — to tell all students and families that they are valued and protected while at school. The posters also gave support information for families with questions or concerns. We put together “red cards” in four languages that we made available to staff, students, and parents at four of our schools. With these cards, undocumented students and parents could give them to police or federal agents in lieu of questioning. My son, who is 17 and goes to Verona High School, worked with our juniors on this project, to put up the posters, create the cards, and distribute them.

Our security teams already know that we will not allow federal agents into our buildings. We will only cooperate with local law enforcement.

Tell us about how you engage families to participate in your school community. Is there a common piece of feedback you get from families, and how do you respond to it?

I am outside at dismissal every day — rain, snow, or shine. Parents know this, so they will sometimes use this as an opportunity to give me feedback, ask questions, lobby for a cause, or give me information. When they are upset, they let me know. For a while, the parents of transfer students complained that we did not do enough to support them. They were right. We ended up changing our approach. Now we provide a lot of math tutoring for transfer students.

How do you take care of yourself when you’re not at work?

Well, I take care of myself at work, too. I have an excellent staff. I don’t try to do everything. At home, I have three sons and a great wife, who is also a teacher. We are usually at a soccer game, traveling to a tournament, or watching the Premier League!

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

How two brothers landed as neighboring principals in their hometown district

2025-07-16T18:41:26+00:00

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If Belzer Middle School Principal Victor Bush needs insight from a fellow school leader, all he has to do is walk across 56th Street.

That’s where his younger brother, Franklyn Bush, serves as principal of Lawrence Central High School.

“It’s great to have someone that you know will never lead you in the wrong direction right across the street,” Victor Bush said. “More importantly, it’s great to have someone that I can look up to as a building leader and call him my little brother.”

Raised by a single mother and a grandmother who deeply valued education, the brothers embarked on almost identical journeys steeped in the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township. They graduated seven years apart, Victor in 1989 and Franklyn in 1996, from Lawrence North High School. From there, they attended the Indiana Institute of Technology, where they both pursued degrees in business and finance and played basketball. But it was their experience in Lawrence Township schools that nudged them toward careers in education.

“Moving to Lawrence was one of the best decisions my mother ever made,” Franklyn Bush said. “Our childhood molded us in a lot of ways, but the opportunity, exposure, access, and excellence of Lawrence Township helped us envision things we probably didn’t see previously.”

Franklyn credits two Lawrence Township teachers — Mrs. Swan at Crestview Elementary and Mrs. Witzerman at Lawrence North — for inspiring him to pursue teaching.

“They both were very hard on me, but spent a lot of time with me outside of their required classroom time,” he said. “They truly showed me the value of investing time and positive energy into people through support and accountability.”

Franklyn Bush, center, and Victor Bush, right, with their cousin Nicole Wilson at their grandmother's kitchen table on West 34th St. "We are all college graduates in professional fields, serving in leadership," Victor Bush said.

Victor Bush, meanwhile, was drawn to teaching in part by his experience as an instructional assistant at Lawrence North in 1993. His main role, he said, was to work with a young man with physical and cognitive impairments.

“It was my responsibility to be his champion and teach him how to use his exceptionalities to develop a sense of independence and confidence,” he said.

Now, the brothers lead two schools in the same district from which they and their children have graduated. Together, they’ve aimed to build up these schools, which they refer to as the “Pride of East 56th Street.”

The brothers spoke to Chalkbeat about their childhood, the power of listening to student feedback, why seventh and eighth grade are “wonder years,” and how they approach school leadership.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

To what extent has your brother’s career impacted your own?

Victor: Through our growing pains, we leaned on each other a great deal, especially when our parents decided to divorce. That experience alone caused our relationship to look different because, as the new “man of the house,” I had to step up and help take care of my baby brother — not realizing that he was watching every little thing that I was doing.

Since the day that I arrived at Belzer, Frank has been nothing but super supportive of me and the entire Belzer family. I often call him or simply walk across the street to gain valuable insight or share what’s on my mind.

Franklyn: If you really look at our paths, I’ve copied his journey in so many ways. So his impact has been major! He was the man of the house for as long as I can remember, so his influence and impact are shown throughout my journey.

What’s the most challenging part of being a principal?

Victor: The most challenging part of being a principal is wanting 100% of my students to achieve excellence in all fields of human endeavor, but not being in complete control of the outcomes. As a principal, I put a great deal of pressure on myself and tend to be my own worst critic. There are times when I need to celebrate the small wins that add up and eventually make a huge impact, instead of being down about not hitting a home run every time that we step up to the plate.

Franklyn: Things change every year, so learning and keeping all stakeholders and staff informed, updated, and prepared has its challenges. Also, some of the things that truly should measure the success of a school are overlooked.

What interaction with a student changed your outlook on being an administrator?

Franklyn: My first year as principal, I had an interaction with a great student named Bri. In a very positive way, she challenged the thought process and focus on the leadership team I inherited, and she requested some changes that would allow our students to show more pride and have more opportunities. I listened, reviewed, and implemented some changes that helped us take steps in the right direction. It was a great reminder that it should truly be a community with feedback, collaboration, process, and communication. Sometimes I have to say no, but at least we’ve gone through proper steps.

Victor: My interactions and willingness to support my own kids as they navigated through school and life have had a major impact on my leadership value system. As a parent, I had high expectations as well as high levels of support for both of my children when they attended Belzer and Lawrence Central. So why wouldn’t I have those same levels of support and high expectations for all of my children — every single scholar?

What’s your philosophy on preparing your students for a successful high school experience across the street?

Victor: I often refer to middle school as “the wonder years.” Meaning that during their seventh and eighth grade years, students are transitioning through life in search of their purpose, likes, and dislikes. They tend to want care, connection, and control. Therefore, our school community has to be committed to providing our students with a great sense of belonging, exposure to excellence, and experiences that will help them decide their future aspirations.

Victor, second from right, and Franklyn Bush, right, pose with their cousin Nicole Wilson and grandmother Alice Wills.

What’s the best advice you’ve received from someone about leading a school?

Franklyn: If it’s not good enough for your own kids, it’s not good enough for anyone’s kids!

How did you prepare yourself for the transition from teacher to principal?

Franklyn: A lot of learning, watching, reading, and interning. I was blessed to have so many great mentors and assistant principals and principals that helped me along the way!

Victor: I believe that both of our leadership journeys began with the influence of a teacher that raised us from boys to young men – our mother, Mrs. Carmen Glass. To this day, my mother is 72 years young and competes with me on a daily basis when it comes to who has the strongest work ethic. She is literally at work, sitting at her desk, during our daily morning conversations when I’m in my car on the way. My mom never said “never” and always found a way to [ensure we were] taken care of. She has always been supportive of Franklyn and me in everything that we do and has continued that trend as a proud grandparent. She leads by example and has instilled the importance of being servant leaders, family-oriented, and great fathers to our children.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Meet Terita Walker, the Denver principal up for a national award

2025-06-16T23:16:08+00:00

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When Terita Walker was a middle schooler at Beasley Academic Center in Chicago, she remembers watching in awe as her principal, Ollie McLemore, hosted Bill Clinton at the school during his first presidential campaign in 1992.

When McLemore presented Clinton with a bright green Beasley Bees sweatshirt, the candidate quickly jettisoned his suit jacket and put it on, drawing an explosion of cheers from students, parents, and teachers. The future president described the K-8 magnet school as “a model for what we wish all schools would be.” He later invited McLemore to inauguration events as one of “50 Faces of Hope,” a group of inspiring people he’d met on the campaign trail.

Today, Walker is principal of Denver’s East High School, which serves about 2,300 students in one of the district’s grandest old buildings. She looks back on McLemore and the other educators who molded her as exemplars of educational leadership.

East High School Principal Terita Walker

“These were individuals who did not just lead — they inspired, they nurtured, and they expected the very best from us,” Walker said.

Today, she aims to follow in their footsteps.

Along with principals from Medford, New Jersey, and Ogden, Utah, Walker was recently named one of three finalists for the National High School Principal of the Year award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals. The winner will be announced on July 9.

Walker, who is also president-elect of the Colorado Association of Secondary School Principals, talked to Chalkbeat about why she changed careers, what she learned from a patient mother, and how she thinks about school safety after two deans were shot by an East High student in 2023.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What was your first education job, and what sparked your interest in the field?

Education was actually a second career for me. After spending time in the corporate world, I realized I wasn’t fully inspired by the work. While in the midst of “figuring it out,” someone suggested that I try substitute teaching.

That suggestion led me back to a very familiar and special place: my alma mater, Beasley Academic Center, a K-8 magnet school. Beasley had given me some of the most memorable and meaningful moments of my life, and experiencing it as an educator sparked something in me.

I wanted to be just like the educators who shaped me. One of those incredible individuals was my 8th grade teacher from 1993, Barbara Lanair, who later became my teacher supervisor during graduate school.

How did your own school experiences impact you and shape your approach to being a principal?

I had great school experiences in the Chicago Public School system, and those experiences shaped my approach to being a principal.

All of my school principals were strong, intelligent, powerful, caring, and nurturing Black women. Many of my teachers were as well. They weren’t just educators; they were role models who embodied excellence in everything they did. They could command a room within seconds and hold the attention of students, staff, parents, and community members alike.

As a principal today, I try to embody that same visibility, advocacy, and connection with students, staff, and the community.

Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.

One memorable experience that really shifted my perspective happened during a meeting with a student and his mother. During our conversation, the student kept asking his mom, “Why? But why not?” To my surprise, she patiently responded to every single question. I remember sitting there thinking, “That is so disrespectful!”

Based on how I was raised, questioning an adult — especially asking “why” — was often seen as defiant. So in the moment, I jokingly said to the mom, “Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned answer from a parent of...‘Because I said so!’” She just gave a small shrug and left the building.

Later, a colleague who overheard the exchange pulled me aside, and we had a thoughtful conversation that completely changed the way I saw that moment. We talked about how important it is for students to feel empowered to ask questions, to be curious, and to seek understanding. Those “why” questions are not about being disrespectful — they’re about learning how to think critically, form opinions, and challenge what doesn’t align with their values.

That conversation led me to call the student’s mother — not just to apologize, but to thank her. I told her how much I admired the way she calmly engaged with her child’s questions, and how her approach taught me something important about the kind of learners we’re trying to cultivate.

Since then, I’ve learned not to take it personally when students don’t simply accept what I say at face value. Of course, there’s always room for respect and boundaries, but now I see inquisitiveness and curiosity as strengths.

The East High community went through a lot in 2023, with multiple shootings on or near campus. How do you make students and staff feel safe?

Safety is a shared responsibility at East. Teachers, administrators, and staff members actively monitor transitions, manage hallway and outdoor movement, and stay vigilant throughout the day. Our safety team treats every report with urgency and care.

Following the incredibly difficult events of 2023, our commitment to safety has only deepened. One of the most important things we’ve learned is that safety is not just about procedures or physical security; it’s about trust, communication, and shared responsibility. That’s why we involve our entire school community in safety conversations before implementing new measures.

We’ve increased the number of campus safety officers in the building to ensure a visible presence and maintain consistent coverage throughout the hallways and around the perimeter of the school. We’ve also strengthened our relationship with the two Student Resource Officers. Our goal is for these officers to be trusted members of our school community who students and staff feel comfortable approaching.

You host monthly coffee chats with parents and students. What’s an example of something you learned from those discussions, and how you addressed it?

These monthly chats give me a chance to hear directly from students and families about what’s working and what isn’t. I want everyone to love our school, because why not? It’s an amazing place to be! But I also understand how important it is to remain open, reflective, and committed to growth.

One specific example came up first semester when parents expressed frustration over a lack of direct communication regarding student absences. The district had recently introduced a new electronic absence reporting system, but it wasn’t meeting all of our families’ needs.

After that coffee chat, we reached out to more families to better understand the issue. As a result, we hired a new attendance support staff member to bring back the human element. This person is now a direct point of contact for parents who need to report absences, ask questions, or resolve issues. Since making that shift, we’ve received positive feedback about the improved clarity and responsiveness of our attendance process.

What issue in the education policy realm is having a big impact on your school right now? How are you addressing it?

One of the most pressing issues impacting our school is the growing need to support student mental health and well-being. At East High School, we recognize that mental health support is not a luxury — it is a necessity.

Despite significant efforts and investments, the need continues to outpace available support. East High has the largest school counseling team in the district, yet our counselors still carry caseloads larger than the national average. We also have four full-time psychologists and three social workers on staff, and we regularly collaborate with outside agencies, like WellPower and Denver Health.

In the face of recent funding cuts, East made a deliberate decision to retain a full-time prevention and therapeutic specialist. This individual educates students on the effects of drugs and alcohol and leads both preventative programming and intervention workshops as part of a restorative disciplinary approach.

What’s the best advice about educational leadership that you ever received?

The best advice didn’t come in the form of a direct conversation. It came during one of the most challenging periods of my career: the post-COVID era. My leadership team and I were exploring the implementation of an advisory period. After countless hours of research and brainstorming, we found ourselves overwhelmed and exhausted.

Then, almost by accident, I stumbled across a graphic that simply read: “Everything is Figureoutable.”

At the time, it felt more like wishful thinking than truth. But that phrase stuck with me. I later discovered it was the title of a book by Marie Forleo. Her message is simple but profound: with enough effort, determination, and creativity, any problem can be solved.

What are you reading for enjoyment?

I’m finishing “The Let Them Theory” by Mel Robbins, and I’ve also started listening to the accompanying podcast. The book and podcast have really inspired me with their constant reminders about the importance of choosing joy and staying grounded.

One of my favorite quotes from Mel Robbins is: “There will always be someone who can’t see your worth. Don’t let it be you.” It’s a powerful reminder to stay true to myself, to lead with confidence, and to never lose sight of my own value — especially in a profession like education, where we pour so much of ourselves into others.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

This singing principal of viral video fame wants students to know they are loved. A call from Oprah would be nice, too.

2021-07-22T11:30:00+00:00

Every day during morning announcements, Marcus Gause, principal of T. Wingate Andrews High School in High Point, N.C., reminds his students that they are loved. On graduation day last month, he reiterated that message.

The graduates heard it, and they weren’t the only ones.

Gause’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You” — a ballad made famous by the likes of Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston — sent chills, cheers, and tears through the crowd. A video of his pitch-perfect performance went viral, with millions of views on social media, and praise from hip-hop artists, including Diddy.

Gause had serenaded students at talent shows and senior banquets, but only now is he getting worldwide recognition. Lately, he’s been asked to sing at professional sporting events and pageants. And he dreams of performing one day alongside his musical idols, such as Fantasia or John Legend, or getting a call from Oprah.

“My kids would be so impressed,” said Gause, who spoke recently with Chalkbeat about leading a high school through COVID, teaching his students to believe in themselves, and why he thinks his graduation performance resonated so widely.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What has this past year looked like for you? How have you supported your students and staff during these unprecedented times?

I believe there is a sixth sense to educating that comes to light from our interactions with students. Not being in their presence took away our ability to impact them as we did previously. For example, we would know when a student was having a difficult morning by their body language or facial expression when they first entered the building. The pandemic made that extremely challenging to do. To get through it, we had several “Fun Fridays” where we logged on to our learning management system and went live on our social media platforms to have dance parties and competitions, virtual awards ceremonies, games, exercise, and wellness check-ins. We facilitated food drop-offs and pickups for students and families experiencing food insecurities. My staff and I also conducted porch conferences where we went to the home and held social distanced meetings for students who were not logging on to their classes regularly.

Why did you decide to sing to your students — and how did you choose that particular song? What do you hope the lyrics conveyed to graduates?

Four years ago, I heard so many negative things about Andrews High School. I met with the entire school and was very transparent about what I had heard and challenged them to believe that we were better than that. The word “believe” became our motto and helped us to transform the school culture. My personal belief was that love is the answer to all situations, so every day, I would end announcements with: “Guys, if no one has told you that they love you today, it is indeed my privilege and my pleasure to be the first to let you know that someone loves you in Red Raider Country and that somebody is me!”

During my first year as principal, a student asked me what they needed to do to become valedictorian, and I explained to her that she was ranked No. 10 and would need to keep working hard. She believed she could, and so she did. She became our Class of 2021 valedictorian. When it came down to choosing the song for graduation, I wanted it to encompass our beliefs, the love we have for one another, and after having lost so much due to the pandemic, a song that would express how I wanted their future to go. When I couldn’t decide on the song, I allowed the valedictorian to choose because she was the evidence and an example of what happens if you simply believe!

Why do you think the video resonated with so many people?

I think the pandemic took a lot from people, but I think it also allowed us time to reprioritize things of importance. One of those was love — both giving it and receiving it. I think that it was so well received because it was expressing authentic love that keeps us all going!

You have quite a voice. Did you ever consider becoming a professional vocalist?

I have thought about it but never really pursued it. I actually tried out for “Sunday Best” in Chicago years ago but only made it to the second round. Now, it looks like I might still have a chance to live out that dream.

Tell us about your own experience with school and how it affects your work today.

I have attention deficit disorder and was not diagnosed until college, which I barely had the grades for. While I wanted to perform well, I lacked focus. Personally, my parents were divorcing during my middle and high school years, so that was hard. In school, I was always doing things I had no business doing, but I had one teacher that loved me enough not to take any junk. She was tough, but it was obvious that she cared about me. Her name is Mrs. Jeanette Mintz, and I try to be that type of love I needed and received from her during that time. My goal before instruction is to make sure that every student and staff member feels loved and appreciated every day!

What’s the best advice you ever received — and how have you put it into action?

My father once told me that sometimes you have to take the step even when you don’t see the staircase. That means there are times in life where it doesn’t make sense, but you have to have the faith to give it a try. Sometimes the obstacles in education seem insurmountable, but if I sit back and do nothing, I know what the outcome will be. However, if I take the proverbial step of faith and try something, the possibilities are limitless. I try to love without limits, and I set out every day to achieve what may seem impossible!

What’s one thing you’ve read that has made you a better educator?

I think that becoming a better educator involves becoming a better you! I recently read a book titled “Do It Again” by Cammie J. Cummings. The book reminded me that I was made for this and not to get defeated but rather to embrace the challenge of dreaming again — this time bigger and better than before! While I love what I do, it’s not void of challenging days and situations. On my worst days, I only have to simply believe again! A changed mind changes outcomes and destinations.

Any summer plans that you’re willing to share?

This summer has already been extremely eventful. I have been honored to perform at a national dance competition, High Point Rockers baseball game, and the Miss North Carolina pageant! I will be doing a PBS interview in August and hope to be finalizing some out-of-state performances in the next few weeks. I would love to sing with some of my favorites, like Fantasia, John Legend, Chris Stapleton, and Kirk Franklin. This summer would be even more amazing if I got a call from Tyler Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Oprah! My kids would be so impressed!

I love four-wheeling, so my family and I plan to do a lot of that this summer.

How I Lead: The largest charter network in Michigan wants to create lessons that work equally well online and in the classroom

2020-06-26T20:57:39+00:00

Shortly after Michigan schools closed in a bid to limit the spread of the coronavirus, National Heritage Academies began shipping laptops to students who lacked the devices necessary to complete assignments from home.

Tens of thousands went out, said Nick Sheltrown, chief learning officer for the charter school network. By tapping its reserves, NHA plans to purchase enough by this fall to provide all of its 64,000 students with devices.

“It’s something we were planning on doing in 2021-2022, but we moved the timeline up,” Sheltrown said in an interview earlier this month. “We’re trying to design ostensibly a true ‘brick to click’ strategy, where if we need to transition to face-to-face or hybrid instruction, we’re able to do so with curricular continuity.”

Nick Sheltrown

Lessons that work equally well in-person and in cyber space will be especially crucial for the network this fall. In a letter to parents earlier this month, the network wrote that it is planning for the possibilities of in-person learning, learning from home, or a hybrid model where students spend some time learning in classrooms and some learning online.

Education leaders and policymakers across the country are preparing for a return to school that is still veiled in uncertainty. More than three months into the pandemic, coronavirus cases are on the rise in Michigan.

NHA’s plans for the fall and beyond carry particular weight because it is one of the largest for-profit charter operators in the U.S. with more than 80 schools, most of them in Michigan.

Other heavyweights in Michigan education policy have rolled out plans or will do so soon: the Republican legislature, the state’s largest teachers union, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who created a task force to study education during the pandemic.

We spoke with Sheltrown about what the coming year could hold, and how NHA plans to help the many students who have fallen behind while classrooms are closed. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Can you talk about the costs for NHA of adjusting to COVID-19?

Your cost basis is going up, because you’re essentially designing a learning experience both virtually and face-to-face. You’re essentially accepting two cost bases, but your funding is going to go down.

We’ve already spent significant resources to ship out 162,000 learning packets that we designed to students. We’ve purchased tens of thousands of Probooks [laptops] for students.

How much learning have your students lost during the shutdown?

The most robust way to estimate learning loss is to use standardized assessments, which are difficult to administer remotely. Our first systematic look at learning loss will likely come here in the fall. We use NWEA MAP [a standardized exam], and that will give us a sense of where the students are at in the beginning of the school year.

Many students will have fallen behind — or further behind, in some cases. What can you do about that?

One of our strategies is to review some of the content that we tried to cover remotely with students. But we need to take a somewhat long term view of this. I don’t know that it’s realistic to think that we can catch students up over a matter of a week or two at the beginning of a school year.

What we’re looking at is how do we extend the learning opportunities for students so we can catch them up. We’re talking about our summer learning strategy for 2021. How do we make that far more robust?

For some students who had particularly robust at home experiences, learning loss may be pretty limited. For other students it may be much larger. So we’re devising strategies for extending the school day and throughout the summer.

Will students be required to attend extra classes during the summer and virtually during non-school hours?

That’s what we’re trying to determine as a system.

COVID-19 has accelerated our thinking on this. We developed robust learning videos that we used our content experts to film, then we sent them out to all of our third-grade teachers, to allow them to use that with their students

If we’re developing a lot of digital assets to support teaching and learning in a remote context, there’s nothing to stop us from continuing to develop those and use those throughout normal operations.

I’m not ready to say that we’d be requiring these out of school, but we’ll be having candid conversations with parents about the learning needs of their students and really encouraging and promoting learning throughout the calendar year.