Spotlighting a Future Leader of Green Dot Seattle Middle School
At our newest middle school, opening to students this August in the Rainier Valley, things are really starting to come together. Walter Chen, founding principal, has been spending time with families and future students to help build the school community. Now, he’ll have some company.
We are very proud to announce that Myra McCormick will join the Green Dot Seattle Middle School family and serve as Assistant Principal in its founding year. McCormick brings rich professional experiences that combine strong leadership with demonstrated successes at some of the highest performing charter schools nationally. “I am eager to work alongside McCormick next year, and will greatly lean on her areas of expertise and knowledge for a successful founding year,” says Chen. “It is with great excitement and pride that we welcome Myra McCormick to the Green Dot family.”
McCormick has deep ties to the Pacific Northwest. After earning her Bachelor of Arts at Willamette University in Salem, OR, she pursued her Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs. Most recently, she has been part of the leadership team at Kent’s Excel Public Charter School, where she was Dean of Students.
Working with communities like southeast Seattle–historically underserved–is nothing new to McCormick. “Our schools all have curriculum that is rigorous, engaging, and well-planned. We emphasize joy in learning, student character, and structure. And we forge community partnerships that support student academic, social, emotional, and physical growth” says McCormick. “But our success is also contingent upon an unwavering commitment to the school’s mission, keen attention to details, constant reflection and revision, and a culture of high expectations for students and faculty alike.”
Under the mentorship of Green Dot Public Schools Washington Executive Director Bree Dusseault, McCormick is completing a version of Green Dot Administrator In Residence program (AIR) tailored to the public charter school experience in Washington State. The AIR program gives administrators an opportunity to shadow other Green Dot principals and prepare for their own leadership role at a opening of a new school at the end of the residency. “Successful leadership takes hard work and support–just the same investments we make in the students we serve every day. Ms. McCormick will bring that passion to her work with our new middle school,” says Dusseault.
McCormick holds a Masters Degree from Relay Graduate School of E, a ground-breaking graduate school of education founded by three of the nation’s highest performing charter school organizations – Uncommon Schools, Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), and Achievement First. Additionally, McCormick brings several years of charter public school experience as a program director, lead science teacher, grade level chair, and administrator at several schools, including Boston Collegiate, Williamsburg Collegiate, and Uncommon: Bed-Stuy Collegiate in Brooklyn, New York.