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Resource Library
2024 PASL Annual Report
2024 Neubauer Fellows Hone Skills in Winter Institute
Test Flip Book Page
Alain Locke Community School | Neubauer Fellowship School Visit
Gwyneth Gaul
Leading Strategic Partnerships & Philanthropy, Comcast NBCUniversal

Gwyneth is the driving force behind strategic partnerships and philanthropy at Comcast NBCUniversal, overseeing the company’s community investment portfolio and fostering relationships with nonprofits to promote digital equity. She helped launch and implement the company’s $100 million commitment to social justice and equality and leads the philanthropic strategy for Project UP, a $1 billion initiative for digital equity.

Before joining Comcast NBCUniversal, Gwyneth served as Director of Partnerships at Benevity, where she collaborated with tech companies to develop CSR strategies. Prior to that, she was Director of Development at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, supporting philanthropic strategies. With nearly 20 years of experience, Gwyneth also held roles at The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Grameen Foundation.

Gwyneth, a Pittsburgh native, volunteers as a Mentor with Amachi Pittsburgh and co-founded Monday night Jazz at AVA in East Liberty. She serves on the board of 1863 Ventures and the Advisory Council for GreenLight Fund of Philadelphia, and has previously served on the boards of Shuman Juvenile Detention Center and The Sprout Fund. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University, where she played varsity soccer.

2024 Neubauer Fellows (Cohort 8) Share Insights Through Cross Cohort Consultancies
Malarie Grace
Director of Coaching & Program Development

Malarie Grace is the Director of Coaching & Program Development at the Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders. After a brief hiatus, during which she realized she missed working with the amazing PASL team (and maybe just a few of the spreadsheets), Malarie returned to the organization to take on a new and exciting role.

Malarie brings almost 10 years of project management experience in the non-profit sector, leveraging her expertise to share the impact of coaching programs and support school leaders. Her work is characterized by building strong relationships, fostering meaningful learning, and connecting resources to ensure success.

Aside from coaching, Malarie is also focused on developing and supporting new programs for Fellows, ensuring that they are both thoughtfully designed and creatively executed to meet the high standards of PASL. Her efforts aim to enrich the Fellows’ experience and amplify the impact of their leadership journeys.

A proud Philadelphia native and alumna of Philadelphia High School for Girls (Class 252), Malarie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from Franklin & Marshall College, a writing degree from Arcadia, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). A writer at heart, Malarie blends her passion for storytelling with her commitment to educational equity.

When she’s not connecting dots and crafting narratives, Malarie enjoys traveling to new places, dreaming up her next big writing project, and rearranging her ever-growing book collection in a futile attempt to make space for just one more.

Joanna Leitch
Communications Director

As Director of Communications, Joanna is dedicated to crafting compelling narratives that resonate and inspire. With a background spanning design, animation, production, education, and law, she brings a unique blend of creativity and strategic thinking to her role.

Born in New Jersey, Joanna’s passion for art and animation led her to Los Angeles, where she spent over a decade as an artist and, later, as a creative executive at Frederator Studios and Nickelodeon Animation. Always passionate about growing community, Joanna helped establish LoopDeLoop in Los Angeles, creating a bi-monthly animation mini-festival that expanded to New York, London, and Berlin.

Her passion for social engagement led her to law school, where she focused on public interest work. There, she co-founded her law school’s first ever reproductive justice student organization, focused on educating the student body on ongoing reproductive justice caselaw while connecting to local engagement initiatives, including issues around homelessness and menstrual equity. She also worked in education equity at ACLU SoCal and in wrongful incarceration for the Loyola Project for the Innocent.

Now firmly settled in Philadelphia, Joanna is dedicated to creative communication that combines her love of community with clear and compelling design. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking with her dog Macie, playing folk instruments (not well), reading historical non-fiction, and exploring new restaurants with her partner.

76s’ Tyrese Maxey Hosts Thanksgiving Event at Neubauer Fellow School
Voices of Women in Leadership Collective
Strengthening Educators through the PASL and ANet Partnership
Central High School, Led by Neubauer Fellow Katharine Davis, Receives National Blue Ribbon Award
Data Reports & Briefs
Gabe Loewenson
Communications Coordinator

Gabe Loewenson is serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development (PHENND). He will complete his service year with Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders in the role of Communications Coordinator. In this role, Gabe will work to highlight program participants’ success, provide a means for them to communicate their expertise, and increase participants’ access to resources.

Gabe has prior experience in both communications and educations. He has worked with the YMCA’s Y-Literacy program tutoring elementary school students in reading and language arts, written for his college newspaper, and advised small businesses on marketing and social media presence. He is excited to be able to make use of the experience he has acquired to enhance the success of program participants and help reduce inequities in the Philadelphia education system.

In his spare time, Gabe enjoys going for walks around Philadelphia, trying new restaurants and spending time with his family, friends, and cats. Gabe received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History from Vanderbilt University.

Adrienne Reitano
Director of Research and Evaluation

Adrienne Reitano is the Director of Research and Evaluation at Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders (PASL). Prior to joining PASL, Adrienne worked at the School District of Philadelphia in the Office of Evaluation, Research, and Accountability for over a decade. Adrienne has worked on evaluation and research initiatives that span a variety of educational issues, including school improvement, researcher-practitioner partnerships, school climate and safety, teacher and principal recruitment and retention, early literacy, and college and career readiness.

She graduated from Friends Select High School, and then went on to study at Columbia University in New York City. After returning to Philadelphia, Adrienne received her Masters in Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, and her Doctorate in Urban Education from Temple University.

Adrienne is also a mom, spouse, daughter, sister, and friend who grew up and currently lives in West Philadelphia.

2024 Neubauer Fellows
Rich Mitchell
Executive Director, Academy at Penn
Foundations, Inc.

Rich is currently the Executive Director at the Academy at Penn. Most recently, Rich served as the principal of William VW. Bodine High School for International Affairs since 2022. Under his leadership, Bodine has experienced renewed academic growth. The number of 9th-grade students “on track” for graduation increased 19%. In his first year, the percentage of Bodine students scoring Advanced on the Algebra | Keystone more than tripled, and the proficiency rates on the Literature Keystone increased by 4%. Through coordinated leadership and clear communication, Rich supports the interests of Bodine’s diverse student body, across 18 varsity sports teams, a nationally-recognized robotic team, monthly cultural assemblies, and regular World Affairs Council programming. Additionally, Rich implemented a robust recruitment and branding strategy that increased the number of applications to Bodine in the school selection process by 87% in just two years.

Rich has been an educator since 2002. Prior to becoming a principal, Rich served as a social
studies teacher for eight years and as an assistant principal for twelve years in The School District of Philadelphia, in Washington, DC, and in Springfield (Delaware County), PA. In 2024, Rich received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Principals.

Rich grew up in Southwest Philadelphia and is a graduate of West Catholic High School.

Dana Singletary
Principal, Feltonville Intermediate School
School District of Philadelphia

Dana has been a principal since 2018 and the proud Principal of Feltonville Intermediate School since 2021. Under her leadership, Feltonville Intermediate School has under gone a complete interior and exterior rebranding and has seen increases in student achievement. In just one year, Feltonville Intermediate School saw an increase of 12.7% in the number of students scoring at or above grade level in ELA.

As a result of ensuring equitable opportunities for marginalized learners, Feltonville Intermediate School also saw a 12.6% decrease in the percent of 3rd grade EL students performing below basic on the PSSA ELA assessment and a 10.1% increase in the percent of 3rd grade students performing at Proficient or Advanced on the PSSA assessment. During the 2021/2022 Dana was selected to participate in the Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders Performance Partners Program where she received innovative and hands on development in instructional leadership and coaching. Feltonville Intermediate School was also recognized for significant gains in PVAAS performance in ELA and Math during the 2022/2023 school year.

Dana has served as an educator since 2003. Prior to becoming a principal, Dana served as a substitute teacher, classroom teacher, school climate and culture lead, Consulting Teacher, and Assistant Principal. Dana grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is a proud product of Philadelphia Public Schools, graduating from Franklin Learning Center High School.

Dr. John Smith, Jr.
Principal, School of the Future
School District of Philadelphia

Dr. Smith is an enthusiastic professional educator with 24 years of instructional experience in elementary and secondary education. He is currently in his third year as Chief Learner (Principal) at School of The Future (SOF), in which some of his achievements were improvements in the conditions for success category (Student and Teacher attendance, Learner dropouts, and 4-year cohort graduation rates) for SY 22-23, as indicated on the SPOTlight Spree report. Also, SOF learner STAR participation rates for the 2021-2023 school year was 58%, and in 2023-2024, the learner participation rates increased to 94%.

Dr. Smith believes that partnerships between organizations such as the Philadelphia Zoo, Microsoft, Heights, and the National Science and Math Initiative have enriched our curriculum and provided unique learning opportunities for our learners. He also partnered with universities to offer dual enrollment programs for his learners and emphasized incorporating more Advanced Placement (AP)classes. For the 2022-2023 school year, learners at SOF scored three in AP Language, AP Literature, and AP United States History. SOF will be one of the first schools to have a CTE Computer Science program for the 2024-2025 school year

Special Awards, Certificates, and Honors Dr. Smith obtained: Graduate of the State of Pennsylvania’s Cohort 10 Special Education Leadership Academy. Implemented a district-wide enrichment tutoring program for students of color for the Upper Dublin School District, Completed Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership Program, Honored by the Glassboro School Board for a Peer Tutoring Program, Glassboro Golden Teacher Award, Alpha Kappa Mu Teacher Honor Society (Cheyney University), ACT 101 Mentor Award (Bloomsburg University), Outstanding Service (Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.), served as President of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. (Lambda Alpha Chapter).

Dr. Smith is a proud graduate of Lankenau Motivation and grew up in the Uptown section of Philadelphia.

Dr. Zenobia Story
Principal, Global Leadership Academy Southwest
GLA Charters

Zenobia has served as the principal of Global Leadership Academy (GLA) Southwest since 2022. Under her leadership, Global Leadership Academy had 24% of scholars performing on or above grade level in English Language Arts and 13% in Math. Closing the achievement gap at GLA Southwest has been a major achievement with 81% of scholars making 1 years’ worth of growth in Math and 75% of scholars making 1 years’ worth of growth in English Language Arts according to the I-Ready quarterly benchmark. GLA Southwest has increased their number of eighth graders, in Fall of 2023, who were admitted to special admit and private high schools with scholarships by 25%.

Zenobia has been an educator since 2005. Prior to becoming a principal, Zenobia taught internationally as an English teacher in Tianjin, China. As well as served as an elementary school teacher, professional development liaison, Science and Social Studies site coordinator, grade level chairperson, academy leader (grades 3-5), director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, assistant principal, and principal for one year prior to GLA Southwest. Zenobia was a recipient of Dekalb County’s Teacher of the Year in 2011.

Zenobia grew up in Philadelphia and attended John Bartram High School’s Motivation Center.

Stephanie Williams
Principal, Belmont Charter Middle School
Independent Charter School

Stephanie has served as the Principal of Belmont Charter Middle School since 2022. Working together with her talented staff, 6th, 7th and 8th graders from Belmont Middle met/exceeded their growth goals in Math according to PVAAS. Further, their school increased the percentage of students with average daily attendance of 90% or higher from 86.6% to 89.4%. Belmont Charter Middle School boasts an overall staff satisfaction rate of 4.6/5 according to their annual climate survey.

Stephanie has been an educator since 2008. Prior to becoming Principal, Stephanie served as an Assistant Principal, founding Academy Leader (K-2) and 9-12 Special Education Teacher. She received her administrative certificate from TNTP‘s residency program, PhillyPLUS. Stephanie grew up in East Orange, NJ and attended Mount Saint Dominic Academy.

Dr. Jury Segers
Principal, Imhotep Institute Charter High School

Dr. Jury Seger was elevated to her current role as Principal in 2013, after serving as Assistant principal for two years. She is affectionately referred to as “Mama Jury” within her school community and has been a dedicated and inspirational administrator, leader and teacher at Imhotep Institute Charter High School for fifteen years. Although she joined Imhotep as a special education teacher, her success in the classroom quickly led to a promotion as an academic coach and in 2011 she was promoted again to Director of Special Education before taking on the principalship.

As the school principal, Dr. Segers is passionate about building the capacity of her staff and creating an affirming school culture that is focused on student outcomes for all learners while using professional learning as a vehicle to improve teaching and learning. She has adopted a schedule that allows for common planning time used for collaboration and to analyze student data. During her tenure, Imhotep has consistently maintained a graduation rate that exceeds the statewide average. Dual enrollment opportunities have expanded to include partnerships with four colleges and universities. During the 2021-2022 school year, 34% of her scholars were enrolled in rigorous courses of study. Future Ready Index data for the 2022-2023 school year indicates that 82.1% of the graduates had a post-secondary transition to school, military or the workforce. During the same year 41% of her scholars had an attendance rate of at least 95 percent. Her efforts earned her the Principal of the Year Award from Psi Delta Kappa International in 2023. Through a rigorous selection process she was accepted into the Neubauer Fellowship Program that commences in July 2024. Dr. Segers has been featured on the nationally syndicated Real World Leaders radio show for a segment on leaders in education.

Dr. Segers graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor’s Degree in social sciences. Committed to lifelong learning, at Arcadia University, she concentrated on special education while earning a Master’s Degree in Education. She later returned to Arcadia University to complete post-graduate studies and was awarded the Dr. Norman A. Miller Scholarship for Educational Leadership. In 2024, she completed her Doctoral Degree and is currently pursuing her Letter of Eligibility at her most recent alma mater.

With a career in education that spans more than twenty years, she holds the following certifications: Principal K-12, Special Education Supervisor, Special Education N-12, English as a Second Language Program Specialist K-12, Social Studies 7-12 and a certificate in Applied Behavioral Analysis. She also holds the certification and facilitates courses for the National Institute for School Leadership Executive Development Program designed for novice administrators seeking their Level II Administrative Certification. She is a proud alum of the Philadelphia High School for Girls, graduating class of 241. In her spare time, Dr. Segers enjoys spending time with her husband and three children.

Dr. Yonaira Rodriguez
Principal, William Cramp Elementary School
School District of Philadelphia

Dr. Yonaira Rodriguez has served as the proud Principal of William Cramp Elementary in the School District of Philadelphia since April of 2024. Previous to Cramp, she was principal at Isaac A Sheppard Elementary where she impacted student achievement by positively impacting 2023 PSSA scores, increasing 4th grade Science scores by 19%, ELA Proficiency scores by 4%, and Math Proficiency scores by 5%. Yonaira also decreased students in the Below Basic ranking of Math by 26% and students in Below Basic in Science by 31%. Additionally, Sheppard saw an increase in student attendance by 22%. While at Sheppard, she established a partnership with Taller Puertorriqueño and the Julia de Burgos bookstore. Via private and corporate fundraising, she raised over $5,000 for students at Sheppard to shop three times a year from the pop up book fair which was curated with a focus on BIPOC authors and characters.

Dr. Yonaira Rodriguez began her teaching career in 2000 as middle school teacher at Julia de Burgos in the School District of Philadelphia. In 2002, she taught 6th and 7th ELA at Colegio Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Hatillo, Puerto Rico. In 2003, she taught 3rd grade Spanish dual language at Pineloch Elementary in Orange County Public Schools. Yonaira was awarded Orange County Public Schools Teacher of the Year in 2005. In addition to her teaching experience, Yonaira worked as an instructional coach for Success for All Foundation from 2008 to 2015. In 2015, she served as a District Instructional Coach in William Penn School District located in Delaware County, PA. In 2018, she rejoined the School District of Philadelphia in the Office of Curriculum and Instruction as an ELA Specialist and then Director of Literacy. Outside of her work in SDP, Yonaira is an adjunct professor at the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, University of Pennsylvania and Saint Joseph University. She serves on the Executive Board for the Pennsylvania Association of Hispanic School Administrators whose goal is to increase opportunities for latino leaders in the educational space.

While she was born in Puerto Rico, Yonaira has spent most of her life in Philadelphia, PA. Yonaira is a proud SDP alum having graduated from Edison High School in 1996.

Nicole Patterson
Principal, William H. Ziegler Elementary School
School District of Philadelphia

Nicole Patterson has served as the principal of William H. Ziegler Elementary school in Northeast Philadelphia for 2 years. Prior to becoming the principal, Nicole served at Ziegler for 6 years as the Assistant Principal, Dean, and teacher establishing strong relationships with families, students and staff.

Finishing the first year Ziegler was able to move ELA PSSA scores from 19% proficiency to 24% and Math PSSA scores from 3% proficiency to 8%. The STAR data resembles similar growth, ELA increased by 10% and Math by 13% proficiency while also decreasing the intensive intervention students by more than 14% in both content areas. Ziegler focused on marginalized students and increased student proficiency in both EL and SpEd categories by 8% allowing them to be a school moving from 4 subgroup designations to 1.

With 15 years of experience as an educator, Nicole has worked in North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. In Virginia, she received Teacher of the Year for Richmond. Nicole was born in Germany and spent most of her life in Panama until returning to North Carolina where she graduated from South View High School in Hope Mills. As a former ESOL student, she continues to build opportunities for all. At Ziegler, she recently received the Math award for over 65% of her students hitting the growth target on the STAR Assessment.

Since becoming the principal at Ziegler, Nicole continues to partner with Philadelphia community members. Ziegler is currently partnered with the Boys and Girls Club, CHOP, Vetri, Magna Prep, and PYB. Additionally, the local state representative’s office has been a great support in planning the new playground build.

Finally, Nicole has been a member of the Inspiring Leader Academy and the TNTP Philly Plus program
to help build her capacity as a leader and coach.