Honoring Our Executive Director
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 […]
A Gift of Language: Celebrating Rorimer’s Seal of Excellence
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 […]
Post-Fellowship Year (PFY) Graduation 2025-26
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 […]
End-of-Year Luncheon & Celebration of Graduates
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 […]
Cotsen Educators Connect at Spring CUE, Powered by CALIE 2026
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 […]
The ART of TEACHING in Action: Empowered Learning Conference 2026
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 […]