Jerry Harris’s career reflects the very best of public education and philanthropic stewardship, and his life’s work demonstrates devoted service, steady leadership, and deep love for educators. Jerry spent nearly four decades in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) as both a teacher and principal and is honored with a mural at Roosevelt Elementary […]
When students returned from winter break this year to Rorimer Elementary, a Cotsen Alumni school, they were greeted with a Hollywood-style red carpet. It was a joyful, high-energy welcome that perfectly captured the student-centered spirit of this La Puente community. But the teachers and staff were also given a well-deserved surprise by their Superintendent, Alejandro […]
A heartfelt congratulations to our Cotsen Post-Fellowship Year (PFY) graduating schools! This year’s celebration on May 8 brought PFY teams together to highlight the growth, breakthroughs, and shared leadership they cultivated while strengthening Collective Teacher Efficacy through a focused signature practice. Throughout the day, teams recounted the moments that shifted their thinking, deepened collaboration, and […]
On May 16 , the Skirball Cultural Center hosted a memorable gathering of the Cotsen community as we celebrated this year’s graduates. Held in the Cotsen Auditorium, a space that reflects the vision and generosity of the late Mr. Lloyd Cotsen, the event carried a quiet sense of gratitude for the man whose belief in […]
Sometimes, a quick change of scenery is all it takes to find a fresh spark of inspiration for the classroom. From March 19- 21, over 200 Cotsen Fellows, Mentors, Principals, and Alumni reunited in sunny Palm Springs for a high-energy conference at the California Spring Computer Using Educators (CUE), Powered by California Association for Leading […]
On Saturday, February 21 , the halls of Wallen L. Andrews School in West Whittier buzzed with a specific kind of energy as the Cotsen community gathered for the Empowered Learning Conference (ELC). While the sun shone outside, over 200 educators chose to spend their morning “walking the walk” together. To truly understand the day’s […]
UCLA Lab School Educator Day – Literacy February 12 at UCLA Lab School Learning & The Brain Conference February 13-15 in San Francisco Curricular and Improvement Support Committee Leadership Symposium (CISC) February 18- 20 in Monterey Computer Using Educators (CUE) and California Association for Leading Innovation in Education (CALIE) Conference March 18- […]
La Cosecha 2025: Dual Language Conference La Cosecha, November 11 -15 , 2025, reignited bilingual brilliance and collective hope for dual language education. It uplifted educators as instructional leaders and advocates, centering comunidad, cultura, translanguaging, and the powerful promise of biliteracy for every child. Cotsen educators left with ready-to-use strategies, joyful ideas for elevating Spanish […]
Hundreds of Cotsen educators gathered in Long Beach on October 11 for the 20th Annual ART of TEACHING Conference. Participants learned from renowned literary and mathematics experts including Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, Dr. Lester Laminack, Maggie Beattie Roberts, Dr. Fernando “Ferran” Rodríguez-Valls, Dr. Elham Kazemi and Dr. Pamela Seda. Newbery Medal-winning author and keynote speaker, Matt […]
On July 30 and 31 , 2025, Cotsen Mentors and Fellows came together at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles for a two-day professional development seminar that turned history into a hands-on adventure. The workshop kicked off at the James R. Parks Library and Archives, where Cheryl Miller and Alejandra “Ale” Gaeta walked us through the […]