My Story

My family moved to Cambridge in September 2019 after discovering that the NYC public schools’ balanced literacy curriculum was preventing our dyslexic five-year-old daughter from learning to read. 

After enrolling her at Kennedy-Longfellow, we were floored to find that her new kindergarten teacher and the school administrators had already reviewed her IEP before she’d started school, and that her special educator was an Orton-Gillingham certified teacher. Zora’s experience of attending Kennedy-Longfellow was, very literally, life-changing. 

But over time, we noticed that K-Lo seemed to be siloed in the district, disproportionately affected with enrollment fluctuations, budget disparities, related staffing challenges, and building maintenance issues. These experiences did not line up with the district and school committee’s near constant use of the word “equity.” And a real commitment to equity is in action – not words.

As a writer and producer with a focus on history and social justice, I’ve been trained to rely on primary sources, always fact check my work, ask questions respectfully but persistently, be patient with discomfort, and be fearless with information, no matter where that leads me. 

Here are some past examples of my work in Cambridge and elsewhere:

• In Cambridge special education, parents watch haphazard priorities result in uneven outcomes

• K-Lo Closing - Newsletter - 12.6.2024

• CPSD FY2025-2026

• A Journey of Juneteenth

• Legacy Lives On

I believe that CPSD can be excellent – and often is excellent, for many. My priority is making sure that CPSD is excellent for all – by asking: What are the individual needs of the kid in front of you? How can that child access a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment? 

And after we ask that question, we work to make it happen. Because the right way forward is often far simpler than we make it.