The NCUST Review: What Great Schools Do

Karen Janney, Ed.D. is a former superintendent, assistant superintendent, area superintendent, California Principal of the Year, assistant principal, and teacher. Dr. Janney has participated in and led many study visits to high-performing schools. As well, she has led several successful A-PLUS Networks. Additionally, Dr. Janney has provided important support to the development of NCUST’s Leadership Certificate Program and Education...

Granger Ward began his educational career as a middle school and high school science teacher and eventually served as a high school principal for seven years in Syracuse, NY. He was formerly superintendent of the Manhattan High Schools in the City of New York and the Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego. Over the past decade, Mr. Ward has served as the California State Director and then Executive Vice President for the...

Angela L. Bass, Ed.D. has served as the Executive Director for Program Implementation for the Western Region of New Leaders, a non-profit committed to advancing educational equity and excellence. Previously, she served as a vice president of another non-profit educational entity, a school district superintendent, assistant superintendent, area superintendent, principal, vice-principal, and teacher. With a deep commitment to equity,...

Cara Riggs is an Omaha Public Schools transplant to San Diego California, after spending her whole personal and professional life there. A 30-year career in the Omaha Public Schools allowed Cara a great range of experience as a committed public school educator.  She has experience as a high school English teacher and then enjoyed 8 years as their AP and Athletic Director. Following a 9 year role as principal of Beveridge Magnet Mid...

In 2013, principal Alexa Sorden reopened Concourse Village Elementary School in the Bronx in New York City after it was shut down for poor performance and disrepair by her predecessor. Concourse Village has a combination of high expectations for students and a flat reporting structure that places a premium on teacher empowerment and an innovative literacy-first approach in all subjects. In 2018 on the state assessments, eighty-eigh...

Dr. Thiel is one of the executive coaches for NCUST working with school districts and their leaders to improve the educational outcomes for all students. Having served as a classroom teacher, elementary school principal, and district peer coach for several years, he eventually became the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for the largest elementary school district in the state of California. Dr. Thiel was instrumental in e...

Dr. Codrington has a track record for advancing and improving educational outcomes for all students. Most notably she opened the newest school in the Chula Vista Elementary School District and in its inaugural year realized tremendous academic achievement results with 81% of the students meeting or exceeding standards for English Language Arts and 72% meeting or exceeding standards for mathematics. Listen to this episode to learn m...

Dr. Matthews has served as superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District, the San Jose Unified School District, the Inglewood Unified School District, and most recently the San Francisco Unified School District. Prior to serving in Inglewood, Dr. Matthews was credited with raising academic achievement in the San Jose Unified School District, narrowing the achievement gap between Latino and white students, and passing landma...

Principal Pantelidis is a two-time NCUST America’s Best Schools Award winner. Even though 87% of the students were Latino or Black, met low-income criteria, and none were admitted through selective processes, Patrick Henry School, in New York City’s East Harlem, continues to be one of the highest-performing schools in the state of New York. Find out in this episode of the NCUST Review what makes the difference and what great school...

In this episode of the NCUST Review, we will hear from Dr. Francisco Escobedo, the Executive Director of NCUST. Dr. Escobedo has served as principal, and superintendent, and is currently a member of the California State Board of Education. He has earned numerous awards and led his previous school district to achieve the “positive outlier” status from the Learning Policy Institute in 2019. Prior to becoming the Executive Director of...

Dr. Helen Griffith is the inaugural executive director and now superintendent of the Preuss School UCSD. She has won numerous awards for her leadership in education, particularly around equity advancement and diversity. She has had the privilege of opening three new schools in the county of San Diego, leaving a legacy of educational excellence. Discover the practices and procedures that Dr. Griffith has successfully implemented to ...

Dr. Joseph Johnson is the founding executive director of the National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST) at the San Diego State University Research Foundation (SDSURF). While serving at NCUST, he was also a professor of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University (SDSU), then dean of the College of Education, and finally the university’s interim provost and senior vice president. Earlier in his career, he serve...