In the spring of 2014, Alyssa Davis, a teacher at Rio Del Mar Elementary School in Pajaro Valley Unified School District was in the middle of a divorce. Alyssa had a one-year-old at home, and she was in the 8th year of her teaching career. Although she loved being in education, she was feeling discouraged and […]
The annual conference is an opportunity to give new mentors and fellows a preview of the kinds of teaching practices that the foundation will be advancing in its two year professional development program. The conference also offers alumni a yearly chance to reinforce the work done during the core fellowship. Presenters are drawn from among […]
Ron Mirr, Senior Vice President of Learning Supports and Family and Community Education, (FACE), for Scholastic Education, recently facilitated a powerful day-long parent engagement workshop for Cotsen teachers and administrators. His session, Leveraging Home – School Partnerships to Improve Student Learning, provided participants with a comprehensive framework and strategies to forge full, equal, and equitable […]
The Cotsen Foundation takes great joy from seeing so many alumni, mentors and fellows alike, rising to new heights as leaders in their schools/districts. The following are the names of Cotsen alumni who have taken on new leadership positions as of the 2019 – 2020 academic year and/or have received advanced degrees in 2019: Andrea […]
The calendar still says summer, and the days, though growing increasingly shorter, continue to be baked by a sun that seems not quite ready to give way to the crispness of fall. Yet across the country, teachers and students fill classrooms as they enter into another year of intellectual exploration and growth. It’s the beginning […]
Founder of The Educator Collaborative, Chris Lehman, and The Educator Collaborative Book Ambassador and teacher librarian, Julia Torres, led the first Alumni Speaker Series of the 2019-2020 school year. Their presentation titled, Literacy as a Tool for Collective Liberation: Culturally Responsive Teaching in the K-6 Classroom, centered on confronting the many challenges educators face on the […]
Dr. George Herrera, principal at Villacorta Elementary School, is preparing his school for its first year in the ART of TEACHING fellowship program. But his work as a leader and principal over the last three years has earned him district-wide recognition this year. The Rowland Unified School District has named Dr. George Herrera the District […]
Rudy Gonzalez, Principal of Morrison Elementary School in the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, never planned on leading a school that had been awarded the prestigious California Distinguished School Award three times in one decade (2008, 2012, 2018). In fact as a financial analyst and financial consultant, teaching had never crossed his mind until he […]
As we begin the 2019-2020 school year, the Cotsen Foundation would like to recognize the exemplary alumni teachers who retired this past year. These consummate professionals have spent the last few decades refining their craft in an effort to open up the world of learning and exploration for the children in their classrooms and school […]
On Saturday, May 18th, the Cotsen Foundation for the ART of TEACHING hosted the annual End-of-Year Luncheon Celebration at the Skirball Cultural Center. This annual celebration honored the newly graduated Cotsen Class of 2019 as they finished their two-year fellowship program. Kicking off the luncheon, Founding Director and Board Chair Margit Sperling Cotsen, President and […]