DISTRICT 16
“On the Road to Extraordinary!
An Option for Every Child: Bed-Stuy Achieves!”
RAHESHA
AMON-HARRISON
Superintendent
"Great leaders harness personal courage, capture the hearts and minds of others and empower new leaders to make the world a better place.”
Maxine Driscoll, Founder Think Strategic
As the Superintendent, it is my responsibility to ensure that our schools meet student achievement goals and operate in alignment with the Framework for Great Schools. I serve as the chief rating officer for principals and provide support at all levels of the school system as I work closely with principals and parents to make our schools the best they can be for our students in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community.
MEET THE DISTRICT TEAM
Elise Moore
Administrative Assistant
“Out of clutter, find simplicity, from discord, find harmony, in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
Albert Einstein
As the Administrative Secretary, Elise provides clerical and administrative support to the Superintendent. It is her responsibility to screen calls, visitors and mail; maintain schedules, appointments and calendars; order all office equipment and supplies; maintain confidential files and information and perform records management. Elise has 31 years of experience in the New York City Department of Education. For 17 years, Elise has served as an administrative assistant secretary to a superintendent.
Yolanda Martin
Principal Leadership Facilitator
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education."
Martin Luther King Jr.”
As the PLF, it is Yolanda’s responsibility to serve as the superintendent’s primary designee and key instructional support. It is also her responsibility to act as the designee for evaluative visits and support the superintendent in improving the performance of district principals with respect to educational effectiveness and school performance. Yolanda has over 16 years of experience in New York City Department of Education. Her work also entails assisting the superintendent in ensuring that the district’s vision and mission is realized. Additionally, the Principal Leadership Facilitator works to ensure that principals in the district receive appropriate guidance, coaching and professional development in order to improve outcomes for students and pedagogical practices.
Dr. Joanne Joyner-Wells
Field Support Liaison
“In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”
Abraham Lincoln
As the Field Support Liaison, Joanne serves as an intermediary for all forms of communication between schools, the Superintendent’s office and the Field Support Center. As a member of the Superintendent’s team, she provides Administrative/ Instructional and Operational support to the schools, such as strategic planning, professional development, data requests, compliance, escalation management, and crisis support. Joanne has over 40 years of experience in the areas of administration, teaching, instructional leadership. In her role she works collaboratively as a member of the Superintendent’s team and with the Field Support Center on instructional and operational issues that occur on a daily basis in the life of a school.
Antonio Arocho
Director of School Renewal
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader"
John Quincy Adams
As the Director of School Renewal (DSR), Antonio oversees and supervises the coordination and delivery of intensive supports to the district’s schools and high school. He provides leadership and oversight for school-based interventions, professional development, summer programming as well as extended learning opportunities in keeping with the system-wide goals of the Department of Education to support schools. He brings over 20 years of experience in teaching, mentoring and coaching of teachers, and instructional leadership support. With a focus on gathering and analyzing data, and building and maintaining relationships with various stakeholders, he expects to establish a foundation of what it takes to transform a school community, regardless of the population. He is committed to supporting the superintendent in providing specialized support to schools in: teacher effectiveness, leadership development, and strategic planning.
Alexander Brunner
Teacher Development & Evaluation Coach
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll learn"
Benjamin Franklin
As the Community School District 16 TDEC, I am committed to supporting school leaders by providing support to meet the expectations of the Framework for Great Schools through effective implementation of Advance. TDECs collaborate with school leaders to identify and capture best practices, analyze needs and develop next steps, design meaningful professional learning opportunities, and provide logistical support for teacher evaluation. The goal of my work is to develop impactful relationships with school leaders and teachers resulting in more rigorous instruction and increased student achievement throughout Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Una-Kariim Cross
Teacher Team Leader
"Excellence is not an act, but a habit."
Marva Collins
As Teacher Team Leader (TTL) for District 16 my work is in service to our youth, educators, and community as a school-based collaborator. I will be facilitating adult leadership development though peer coaching, professional collaboration, and pedagogical strategy and design for the lab classroom with focus on collaborative learning between educators. I will provide guided opportunities for teachers to grow and sharpen their practice via guided readings of professional literature, reflection, coaching and feedback.
To ensure district-wide collaboration, I will be facilitating District 16 Community of Practice collaborative learning events. Community of Practice guides teacher leaders through inquiry cycles and consultancy protocols. Community of Practice provides the space for educators to share professional goals, experiences and challenges while celebrating successes through professional dialogue.
I am excited to be engaged with our Superintendent, school leaders and educators as we work together, with purpose, on our shared goals and our eyes on excellence, capacity building, and doing the work that supports youth and educators thriving.
Camelia Brogdon-Cruz
Family Leadership Coordinator
”For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”
Audrey Hepburn
As the FLC, Camelia’s role is to assist the Superintendent with implementing governance regulations and work with all district-related committees, parent leaders and staff. She provides support and professional development to the school and district parent leadership structures, including PTA/PAs, SLTs, DLT, CEC, Title I Committees, and the District Presidents’ Council. As FLCshe is charged with serving as a liaison for the community, providing parent support, developing community partnerships with schools and supporting parent coordinators in better serving their school communities. As the FLC she will support the Superintendent in bridging the gap that exists between home and school in order to improve student achievement.
Iris Rivas
Family Support Coordinator
"At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success if the positive involvement of parents.”
Jane D. Hull
The role of the Family Support Coordinator is to serve as a case manager for family issues and inquiries received at the district level. I track the progress of individual cases via the P-311 system until their conclusion. Iris works with schools to ensure timely updates to families as necessary in collaboration with the Superintendent, Family Leadership Coordinator, various DOE offices, principals, parent coordinators and CBOs. She also documents all family and school community concerns in the P-311 system according to the Office of School Support and Supervision.