The school’s founder, Deborah Meier, has spent the past 35 years developing successful public urban schools. In 1987, she received the MacArthur Fellowship (popularly known as “Genius” Award) for her work starting the Central Park East schools in East Harlem, NY. Through her work at the Mission Hill School, she continues to provide examples of how a dedicated community of teachers, parents, and the larger public can build truly effective schools . She started teaching in the early 60s, when her own 3 children began their neighborhood public school in Chicago--first as sub and then as a Kindergarten teacher. DUring the next 45 years she played many roles--as an early childhood teacher (including Headstart), head teacher and principal of the Central Park East elementary schools in East Harlem, founding principal of a NYC public secondary school, and coordinator of a project to transform two large city high schools.
She has written four books, The Power of their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem, Will Standards Save Public Education, In Schools we Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing, Standardization and Playing for Keeps. She also speaks widely about issues of education reform. Please visit her new website at www.deborahmeier.com
