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Letter from Leadership
LE TTER FROM LEADERSHIP
Dear friends,
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As a leader, I have always prided myself on the ability to lead through challenge. The past two and a half school years have given me an unparalleled opportunity to do so.
Across the country and here at Achievement First, the 2020-21 school year was one of enormous challenge, change, and persistence. Our 15,000 students and their teachers were persistence personified as they pushed toward their goals through a year of school in a pandemic, an overdue national racial reckoning and the personal and collective grief we’ve endured throughout COVID-19. We were and are incredibly proud of what our AF family has been able to accomplish in unprecedented and often daunting circumstances.
In August, after 15 years in a variety of leadership roles at AF, I became your Interim CEO. As the circumstances around COVID-19 continue to change, we know we stand ready to pivot with excellence. We’ve proven so.
This school year, and every school year, we lead with love. Our top priority is ensuring that every student knows they are safe, loved, and learning. AF students are back, in-person, across our 41 schools.
This year is one of the toughest years to be in public education. And we’re incredibly lucky that our organization is full of some of the most resilient, warmest, most dedicated educators you’ll find anywhere.
Through it all, we will never lose sight of our mission. That means continuing to build upon our successes and continuing to learn and do better when we’re challenged. It means affirming that Black Lives Matter, anti-racism is necessary, and internal and external change must happen not only with our words, but with our actions, our curriculum, and the way we approach teaching and learning every day.
As I approach each new challenge as Interim CEO, I’m fueled by the same passion that brought me to public education 17 years ago. Kids in Brooklyn, New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport, Providence, Cranston and Queens deserve the very best schools can offer. This is our sacred charge. The time is now.
With love, Fatimah Barker Interim CEO
