The eighth annual Standing Ovation Excellence Awards ceremony were held on Feb. 8 at The Anthem in southwest D.C., with more than 3,200 people in attendance.
“D.C.’s educators are at the heart of our work to infuse values in everything that we do,” said schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson. “They embody the attitude of putting students first, working with integrity, and bringing courage and joy to everything they do in the classroomOur city is fortunate to have a team of teachers, leaders, and staff who authentically and collaboratively give their all for the District’s students.”
The 2018 Standing Ovation winners are:
• Principal of the Year: Tenia Pritchard, Whittier Education Campus (Ward 4)
• Teacher of the Year: Tumeka Coleman, Walker-Jones Education Campus (Ward 6)
• School Staff Member of the Year: Emily Allshouse, Director of Strategy and Logistics, Brightwood Education Campus (Ward 4)
• Excellence in School Innovation: Cynthia Robinson-Rivers, Van Ness Elementary School (Ward 6)
• Excellence in Service: Jessica Silva, Marie Reed Elementary School (Ward 1)
• Excellence in Classroom Innovation: Kareem Farah, Eastern High School (Ward 6)
• Excellence in Family Engagement: Greg Dohmann, Jefferson Middle School Academy (Ward 6)
• Excellence by an Academic Leadership Team: Mary Ann Stinson, Truesdell Education Campus (Ward 4)
In addition, 21 teachers, staff, principals, and assistant principals were honored with Rubenstein Awards and will each receive $5,000:
Rubenstein Winners for Excellence in Leadership, Principals
• Mary Ann Stinson, Truesdell Education Campus (Ward 4)
• John Burst, School Within a School (Ward 6)
• Donald Bryant, Stoddert Elementary School (Ward 3)
• Kennard Branch, Garfield Elementary School (Ward 8)
Rubenstein Winners for Excellence in Leadership, Assistant Principals
• Lisa Rosado, Turner Elementary School (Ward 8)—Currently Principal of Savoy Elementary School
• Steve Aupperle, Truesdell Education Campus (Ward 4)
• Jennifer Green, Key Elementary School (Ward 3)
• Kermit Burks, Noyes Elementary School (Ward 5)—Currently Principal of Noyes Elementary School
Rubenstein Winners for Excellence in Teaching
• Jillian Atlas, 3rd grade teacher, Ross Elementary School (Ward 2)
• Joana Davila, 9th-12th grade teacher, Cardozo Education Campus (Ward 1)
• Taylor Parson, 4th grade teacher, Beers Elementary School (New Teacher of the Year, Ward 7)
• Kaila Ramsey, 4th grade teacher, H.D. Cooke Elementary School (Ward 1)
• Lauren Bomba, Pre-K-5th grade teacher, Maury Elementary School (Ward 6)
• Lashunda Reynolds, 12th grade teacher, McKinley Technology High School (Ward 5)
• Pamela Tucker, 12th grade teacher, Anacostia High School (Ward 8)
Rubenstein Winners for Excellence Among School Staff
• George Blanks, Custodial Foreman, H.D. Woodson High School (Ward 7)
• Tyrone White, Custodial Foreman, School Without Walls High School (Ward 2)
• Shayla Stafford, Instructional Coach, Phelps ACE High School (Ward 5)
• Gloria Hernandez, Coordinator of Strategy and Logistics, Columbia Heights Education Campus (Ward 1)
• Susan Bloom, Librarian, Peabody Elementary School (Ward 6)
Alice and David M. Rubenstein generously provide $230,000 in cash prizes for Standing Ovation each year. For more information, visit www.standingovationfordcps.org.
Task Force Reconvenes
The High School Graduation Requirements Task Force reconvened Tuesday, Feb. 13 to build on new information shared in the recent Alvarez & Marsal report regarding the city’s public high schools’ attendance and graduation outcomes.
“We look forward to [continuing] our work on high school graduation requirements,” said Laura Wilson Phelan, Ward 1 representative and task force co-chair. “There is an opportunity for us to take advantage of the transparent information provided by the Alvarez & Marsal report to better inform our work.”
Markus Batchelor, Ward 8 representative and task force co-chair, added that task force members will collectively decide on a path forward to ensure that all of D.C.’s students are college and career-ready. “Now, more than ever, the input and perspectives of this diverse group of residents is essential to our forward progress as a system and as a city,” said Batchelor.
All task force meetings are open to the public. However, individuals and representatives of organizations are not permitted to speak or participate during task force sessions. District residents may stay involved and provide input throughout this process in a variety of ways. Individuals and representatives of organizations may submit written testimony or information for consideration by the task force by emailing sboe@dc.gov or by filling out this online form.
DCPS Progress
Despite recent findings aligned with DCPS’ high school attendance and graduation outcomes, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has noted several points surrounding the school system’s progress.
“These findings are indeed startling and fixing what got us here is my top priority,” Bowser said in a recent statement. “But as we move forward, we cannot ignore or discount the real progress our schools and students have made,” she said
The mayor outlined several of the system’s achievements over the past decade, including:
• recognition as the fastest-improving urban school district in the country based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP);
• an uptick in enrollment after years of decline; and
• expansion of STEM and extracurricular offerings at middle schools, setting more students up for success in high school.