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Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership

The Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership at Hale (PSi) develops a network of adaptive leaders who champion racial justice and equity, integrate artistic and design thinking, and engage youth and families to mobilize teams that transform educational and community-based organizations.

Named after Vito Perrone and Ted Sizer, PSi is a leadership certificate program that can also lead to graduate credit and/or completion of the Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL), a requirement for principal licensure. The program immerses leaders in school settings and community-­based organizations and employs a design thinking approach to leadership development.

PSi invites interest and applications from individuals who are:

  • Emerging school and nonprofit leaders who are ready for the next step
  • Experienced and creative educators willing to take risks and challenge the status quo
  • Open-minded thinkers committed to engaged learning and racial justice
  • Working professionals eager to join a network
  • Individuals who are passionate about creative leadership, whether they self-identify as an artist or not
  • Engaged community members, advocates, and organizers

PSi provides opportunities to grow as creative leaders, visionary resource managers, head teachers, chief talent developers, community organizers, and skilled politicians. It does so through three leadership lenses and seven practices. Read more about these below.

The application period for PSi’s 2023-2024 Cohort is now closed. Please contact Program Manager Lisa Sankowski if you have any questions.

Our Community

Meet Our Students and Past Participants

The Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership (PSi) was founded by Linda Nathan and Carmen Torres in 2015 as the Creative Educators Leadership Institute (CELI) at Boston University. PSi has added a cohort per year since, and in 2021, left the Center for Artistry and Scholarship to become one of Hale’s professional development programs. We invite you to meet our participants.

COHORT 8 (2023–2024)

Meet our current cohort.

COHORT 7 (2022–2023)

Julie Allen, Assistant Principal, East Somerville Community School

Aisha Banda, K-5 Social Studies Coordinator, Lexington Public Schools

Branden Carr, Assistant Principal, Browne Middle School, Chelsea

May Chau, K-12 Visual Arts Supervisor, Somerville Public Schools

Yamilis Cruz, Instructional Coach, Collins Middle School, Salem

Leanne DeRosa, Assistant Principal, Salem High School

Julie Gilmartin, Content Based Literacy Coach, Wright Science and Technology Academy, Chelsea

Alec Lapan, Dean, Chelsea High School

Patrick Melo, Redirect Counselor, Education and Career Advisor, Somerville Public Schools

Nicole Olusanya, BPS Arts Expansion Initiative Director, EdVestors

Richard Romanoff, K-8 District Lead Music Teacher, Chelsea Public Schools

Dayshawn Simmons, President, Somerville Educators Union

Jane Victor, Science Coach, Chelsea High School
 

COHORT 6 (2021–2022)

Crystal Alcala, Assistant Principal, Sarah Greenwood K-8 Dual Language School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Patricia Arévalo, Assistant Principal, Chelsea High School, Chelsea Public Schools, Chelsea MA

Laurinda Baccus, Assistant Headmaster, 9th Grade Academy, Madison Park High School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Ildulce Brandao, Assistant Head of Lower Division, The Park School, Brookline, MA

Lisa Cook, Executive Director, The Clubhouse Network, Roxbury MA

Georgette Copeland, Special Education Teacher, ABA Based Classroom K2-2nd, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Dave DiPietro, Interim Social Studies Department Head, Somerville High School, Somerville MA

Demetrius Fuller, HOMies Integration Coach, Frank M. Sokolowski School, Chelsea Public Schools, Chelsea MA

Rebecca Iyore, Assistant Principal, 9th Grade, Lawrence High School, Lawrence Public Schools, Lawrence MA

Chris Madson, English Teacher / Lead Teacher, John D. O’Bryant School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Luz Maldonado, Family Liaison, Madison Park High School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Jessica Martinez, Community Field Coordinator, Boston Day and Evening Academy, Boston MA

Emily Monteiro, Consultant, Crossroads for Kids, Duxbury MA

Taryn Moon, Assistant Principal / Math Curriculum Specialist, Alcott Elementary School, Concord Public Schools, Concord MA

Juan Mora y Araujo, Executive Director, Center for Artistry and Scholarship

Caitlin Nelson, Equitable Literacy District Coach, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Peter Pappavaselio, Performing Arts Lead Teacher, Chelsea High School, Chelsea Public Schools, Chelsea MA

RL Reynolds Lupo, Director of Student Support, William E. Russell School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Anthony Rhodes, Dean of Discipline, Fenway High School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Marianela Rivera, Executive Director, Fortaleza, Lawrence MA

Alex Sanchez, Director of Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning, Chelsea Public Schools, Chelsea MA

Cam Scott, Data and Accountability Manager, Boston Day and Evening Academy, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Sneha Walia, History Teacher, Boston Latin Academy, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Lynn Weisse, Social Emotional & Academic Development Coach, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

 

COHORT 5 (2020–2021)

Jossie Mar Bailey, Instructional Coach, Roosevelt K-8 School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Loredana Da Graça, Director of Language and Literacy, Orchard Gardens K-9 Pilot School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Joram Dade, Boston MA

Gina Desir, Multilingual Instructional Coach, Office of Multilingual and Multicultural Education, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Amanda Dillingham, Science Program Director, East Boston High School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Joshua Fidalgo, Dean of School Culture, Dearborn STEM Academy, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Danny Flannery, Literacy Coach, Hooks Elementary School, Chelsea, MA

Dylan Gschwind, Education Coordinator, Maritime High School, Northwest Maritime Center, Townsend WA

Noreen Hassan Haddadi, Teaching Fellowship Bilingual Specialist, BPS Teacher Pipeline Programs, Office of Recruitment, Cultivation & Diversity, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Arlene Hudson, Director of Talent Development, Phalen Leadership Academies

Pierre Jean, Assistant Principal, Needham High School, Needham Public Schools, Needham MA

Mandy Lam, Humanities & ESL Teacher, Josiah Quincy Upper School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Tia Lawrence, Principal, Malden Early Learning Center, Malden Public Schools, Malden MA

Jordan Manchester, Assistant Head of School, Middle School, Boston Latin Academy, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Teresa Marx, Chemistry Teacher, Needham High School, Needham MA

Michelle McGahan, Vice Principal, Framingham High School, Framingham Public Schools, Framingham MA

Beth Peters, Teacher, Adams Elementary, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Melissa Pires, Family Liaison, Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Rebecca Poirier, Assistant Principal at the Snowden International School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Lea Serena, Boston Teachers Union Elementary Field Rep, Boston, MA

Ryan Solero, Lead Teacher for Visual and Performing Arts at Cambridge Public Schools, Cambridge MA

Lindsay Gabriela Thornquist, Lynch Leadership Academy Principal Fellow, Hernández School, Boston MA

Reginald Toussaint, Executive Director of The Achieve Program, Dedham MA

Kendwy Valdez, Principal, Tracy Elementary School, Lynn Public Schools, Lynn MA

 

COHORT 4 (2019–2020)

Aaron Altman, Early College and Career Pathways Director, Charlestown High School, Charlestown MA

Shannin Antonopoulo, Project Manager, Artist Proof Studio, Johannesburg, South Africa

Jacquelline Carolan, Director of Social Emotional Learning, Mary Lyon K-8, Brighton MA

Mayra Cuevas, Universal Preschool Coach, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Kareem Cutler, Director of Academic Advancement, Student Support, and Operations, New Mission High, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Aytul Farquharson, Music Teacher, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Chris Fitzpatrick, Math Coach, Beebe School, Malden MA

Joshua Garver, Strings Teaching Artist, Beaver Country Day School, Chestnut Hill MA

Sheldon Hitchens, Director of Impact, 2 Gen at United Way of Dane County, MI

Sheila Jacobo-Ahmed, Social Worker, UP Academy Boston, Dorchester MA

Jennifer Lambertz, Instructional Facilitator, Mary Lyon K-8, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Paige Lemieux, Development Coordinator, Alumni Affairs & Development, Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Sonia Lowe, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment 6–12, Salem Public Schools, Salem MA

Alison Mann, Assistant Director of Early Childhood, Somerville Public Schools

Katie McGuire, Accelerated Improvement and Inquiry Manager with the Office of Data and Accountability for Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Giovany Morales-Ramos, Director of Technology, Citizen Schools, Boston MA & CAS Board Member

Genevieve Nouveaux, Teacher/Strategist, Greater Egleston High School, Roxbury MA

Tiffany Rice, Middle School Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Global Education Practitioner, Buckingham Browne & Nichols

Jennifer Rose-Wood, ELA and Special Education Teacher, Boston Arts Academy, Boston MA

Allison Ruane, Instructional Coach, Browne Middle School, Chelsea MA

 

COHORT 3 (2018–2019)

Jiar Ahmed, 9th & 10th Grade Small Learning Community Leader, Charlestown High School, Boston Public Schools, Charlestown MA

Farah Assiraj , Chief of Teaching and Learning, Council of the Great City Schools, Washington DC

Lauren Blumberg, Focused Instructional Coach, Abbey Kelley Foster Charter School, Worcester Public Schools, Worcester MA

Caitlyn Castillejo, ESL/Humanities Teacher, Charlestown High School, Charlestown MA

Shameka Charley, Software Development Instructor at Year Up Greater Boston MA

Michelle Dean, Community and Culture Leader, Josiah Quincy Upper School, Boston MA

Frank DeVito, Executive Director, Equity Lab Charter Schools Inc., Lynn MA

Christina Farese, Instructional Coach, Putnam Avenue Upper School, Cambridge MA

Rhianon Gutierrez, Director of Digital Learning, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Michele Harney, Business Teacher, Somerville High School, Somerville MA

Meghan Harrington, Lynch Leadership Academy Fellow, George Conley Elementary School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Wyatt Jackson, Drama (Musical Theatre) Teacher for the Dedham Public Schools, Dedham MA

Bernadine Lormilus, Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, Dorchester MA

Kendra Lamb, Lower School Director (K1-2), Boston Renaissance Charter Public School, Hyde Park MA

Taheera Massey, Teacher / Yoga Teacher, Conservatory Lab Charter School, Dorchester MA

Jeff Shea, Instructor, School of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, Tufts University, Medford MA

Glen Sherman, Director of Teaching & Learning—Math, Boston Teacher Residency/Dudley Street Neighborhood School, Roxbury MA

 

COHORT 2 (2017–2018)

Emily Bekenstein, Director of Operations, Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School, Boston MA

Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver, Reading Specialist & Coach, Winooski High School, Winooski VT

Emily Chen, 7-8 Math Teacher, Boston Green Academy, Boston MA

Angela DiPesa, Senior Director of Student Services at Breakthrough Greater Boston

Shaunalynn Duffy, Director of Operations, sprout & co. / Powderhouse Studios, Somerville MA

Chris Flaherty, Producer, PorchProductions, Boston MA

Valduvino Goncalves, Student Development Counselor, John D. O’Bryant High School, Roxbury MA

Amy Gonzalez, 7th Grade English Language Arts Teacher, Rindge Avenue Upper School, Cambridge MA

Cassandra McGraw, Founder, Brown Educator Experience, Washington DC

Nicole Pelletier, Instructional Coach and Teacher, New Mission High School, Boston MA

Tess Plotnik, Institutional Giving Manager, Emmanuel Music, Boston MA

Alec Resnick, Director, Powderhouse Studios, Somerville MA

Heron Russell, Outdoor Guide, Intrepid Academy at Hale, Westwood MA

Maura Tighe, Artistic Director, Boston Arts Academy, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Bob Tobio, Math/Special Ed, Mary Lyon Pilot High School, Brighton MA

Shantae Toole, Co-Founder & Co-Director, First Teacher, Roxbury MA

Amy Wedge, Visual and Media Arts Content Specialist, Boston Public Schools

Nancy Zimbalist, Content Team Leader, Charlestown High School, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

 

COHORT 1 (2016–2017)

Eliza Casella, Director of SEL, Climate, and Culture, Salem Public Schools, Salem MA

Yoelinson Castillo

Dr. Brian Gellerstein, Director for Fine and Performing Arts, Framingham Public Schools, Framingham MA

Josue Gonzalez, Executive Director, Project STEP, Boston, MA

Weddee Neufville-Henry, Literacy Specialist, Boston Day and Evening Academy, Boston MA

Dan Kelly, Gavin Foundation, Boston MA

Kendra Martin, Team Leader, Vocal Music Teacher, Lilla G Frederick Pilot Middle School, Boston MA

June Murray, Social Studies Teacher, Hudson High School, Hudson MA

Dana Reder, Director of Student Services, Neighborhood House Charter School, Dorchester MA

Nasrin Samadi, Dean of Curriculum and Instruction, Lawrence High School, Lawrence Public Schools

Guy Michel Telemaque, Visual Arts Faculty & BAA Gallery Director, Boston Arts Academy, Boston MA

Valerie Vasti, Literacy Coach, Mohawk Trail Regional School District, Shelburne Falls MA

Bethy Verano, Principal, Hurley K-8 School, Boston MA

 

CELI (2015–2016)

Jamie Andrade, Art Teacher in Rivers and Revolutions, Concord Carlisle High School, Concord MA

Jennifer Barefoot Smith, Teacher/Counselor, Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, Boston MA

Michelle Brito, Leadership Coach, Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College, Newton MA

Colleen Casey, Teacher, Mary Lyon School, Brighton MA

Lydia Cochrane, Co-Principal, St. Johnsbury Lower School, St. Johnsbury VT

Kati Delahanty, Transformation Instructional Coach, Brighton High School, Brighton MA

Rachel Eio, World Language Curriculum Coordinator, Brookline High School, Brookline MA

Donna Glick, Retired Director of Education, Huntington Theatre Company

Donna Harris, Community and Culture Leader, Josiah Quincy Upper School, Boston MA

Tim Kelleher, Teacher, Josiah Quincy Upper School, Boston MA

Damen Kelton, METCO Director, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury MA

Gizelle Lev, Vice Principal, Barbieri Elementary School, Framingham Public Schools

Adrianne Level, Program Leader, Boston Day & Evening Academy, Roxbury MA

Carolyn Meadows, Senior Project Manager, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

Katy Ramon, Math Teacher, Heatherwood Middle School, Mill Creek, WA

David Sullivan, Math Teacher, Mary Lyon Pilot High School, Brighton MA

Tyrone Sutton, Assistant Head of School, Boston Arts Academy, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA

David Wientraub, English Teacher, Newton South High School, Newton MA

Eytan Wurman, Director of Operations, Suzuki School of Newton, Newton MA

 

Meet Our Faculty and Staff

Core Faculty and Staff

Will “Will. C.” Chalmus, Core Faculty

    Will Chalmus (aka Will C.) is a highly skilled facilitator of personal, communal, and leadership development. Will C. is currently an adjunct professor at Brandeis University with an Ed.M. from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in Theater Arts from Brandeis. He is most known for his work with the Centre for Playback Theatre, an organization that runs the international school of this community-building form of improvisation theater based on personal narratives. In addition to serving on the board of directors and as faculty for the Centre for Playback, Will C. has also founded various Playback Theatre companies in New England and has led programs and provided consultations for many non-profit organizations in the US, Canada, Germany, Brazil and Australia. Will C. is also a highly respected poet, playwright, hip-hop artist, and M.C. that performs solo acts and with numerous groups nationally. He is also a teaching fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Education as well as a teaching assistant for multiple courses in the Education Department of Brandeis University. Will C. is currently building a Playback Theatre company in Cambridge Port as a Flow Grant recipient from the Cambridge Arts Council.

Sung-Joon “Sunny” Pai, Core Faculty

    Sunny is an experienced public school educator and leader. Previously he held several roles at Charlestown High School, including Director of Systems and Innovation and Director of the Diploma Plus (DP) Programs. Sunny and his team created DP’s performance-based model for students who have not yet been successful in high school. DP is committed to establishing a culture of growth, where all students—especially students who have struggled in traditional academic models—can achieve at the highest levels. Sunny has also served as Chief of Staff at Charlestown High, facilitated teams such as the Leadership Team, Guidance Team, and Math Team, and consulted with the Office of High School Support for Boston Public Schools. Sunny began working in BPS as a student teacher in 1998 at Fenway High School. The following year, he became a founding faculty member at Boston Arts Academy (BAA). He was also on the founding faculty of Rainier Scholars, an enrichment program for BIPOC students in the Seattle Public Schools. Sunny completed both the Principal Residency Network principal-training program and the Boston Principal Fellowship. In 2005, Sunny was also founding principal at the Media Communications Technology High School (West Roxbury Educational Complex) and served there for four years. Sunny was recognized in 2016 by the Boston Globe as a Bostonian of the Year for his leadership with the DP program, and he is a winner of the Lawrence W. O’Toole Award.

Esta Montano, Coach

    Esta spent 26 years in public education, first as a teacher, and later as district and school leader. She is currently a professor for Boston University’s Prison Education Program, where she teaches writing and literature courses at MCI Framingham. The teaching of incarcerated women has provided her with an additional lens on teaching and learning as well as the pipeline to prison. Esta also consults with school districts and government entities, providing professional development on the topics of race, culture, language, and identity. Esta holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics, and an Ed.D. in Leadership in Urban Schools, both from University of Massachusetts Boston.

Lisa Sankowski, Program Manager

    Lisa is an experienced program manager and nonprofit administrator who has dedicated her career to supporting organizations that serve adults and children in creative learning environments, including the Center for Artistry and Scholarship, Open Circle Social Competency Program at the Wellesley Centers for Women, Courage & Renewal Northeast, and the Boston Children’s Museum.

Guest Faculty

Lydia Cochrane

    Lydia is currently an elementary school principal in northern Vermont. She relocated to Vermont after seven years working with the nonprofit Citizen Schools, when she was based in Boston Public Schools and Chelsea Public Schools. She is a licensed teacher and administrator with 10 years of experience in leading teaching teams, data-driven instruction and intervention, and highlighting the joy of learning for students. She lives with her partner, three dogs, two cats, and occasional foster kids. Lydia earned a B.A. in Psychology from Smith College, an M.Ed. in Leadership/Policy from Boston University, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Antioch University in Critical Pedagogy.

Angie UyHam

    Angie UyHam is the founder of the Cambridge Educators Design Lab which uses community driven-design to address pressing challenges in education and beyond. The Design Lab strives to change the historically top-down approach in education, to create opportunities for students and educators to invent novel solutions, and to leverage community partnerships in a powerful new way. Angie received her M.B.A. from Babson College, M.Ed. from Boston University, and B.A. from the University of Michigan. For two decades, she worked as a classroom teacher as well as literacy coach and reading specialist. Currently, she is the District Design and Innovation Coach for the Cambridge Public Schools. Angie is passionate about the intersection of education, innovation and social change and is working on how school districts can change the way problems are identified and addressed. She believes that all students and educators are innovators when given the time, space, and opportunity to do so. In addition to her work with the Cambridge Public Schools, Angie leads a Community Design Lab supporting the opportunity for multiple stakeholders to be shared visionaries and decision makers in their communities.
Recent Guest Speakers and Facilitators
  1. Almi Abeyta, Superintendent, Chelsea Public Schools
    Mirko Chardin, Novak Education Consulting
    Steven Cohen, Senior Lecturer in Education and the Peace and Justice and American Studies Programs, and Adjunct in the History Department, Tufts University
    Sue Crumbaker, Director of Teambuilding & Experiential Learning, Hale Education
    Kiame Mahaniah, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Lynn Community Health Center
    Seth Racine, CEO, Open Architects
    David Rosenberg, Partner, ERS
    Damon Smith, Principal, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
    Gene Thompson-Grove, Professional Learning Facilitator
    Patrick Tutwiler, Former Superintendent, Lynn Public Schools; Secretary of Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
    Robert Vinci, MD, Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, and The Joel and Barbara Alpert Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine
    Sarah Westbrook, Director of Professional Learning, Right Question Institute

Curriculum and Logistics

Do you work in education? Are you eager to take the next step in your career? Join a cohort of teachers, school leaders, and staff as you explore creative leadership from the perspectives of educator, artist, and community-based leader.

  • Build the skills, capacity, and confidence to lead innovative, equitable, democratic schools that prioritize anti racism, innovation, student agency, and community partnership
  • Opt to receive coaching to complete the Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders for Principal Licensure
  • Enroll in Cambridge College’s PSi certificate program and earn graduate credit
Leadership Lenses and Practices

PSi’s curriculum develops leaders from the perspective of three lenses:

  • Artist – accessing inspiration and utilizing creativity, design, risk taking, and experimentation to solve complex problems; artists persist and consider, refine, and illuminate many different approaches.
  • Educator – committed to racial justice and equity, and informed and driven by research and data; drawing upon a deep knowledge of child and adolescent development; and applying a profound understanding of theories of learning to prepare students for academic and personal success.
  • Community-Based Leader – employing a culturally competent understanding of the assets and needs of youth and families in a given community to engage effectively in a dynamic collaborative process of community growth, development, and networking.

We ensure participants develop and grow as creative leaders, head teachers, community organizers, visionary resource managers, chief talent developers, and skilled politicians across seven leadership practices:

  • Anti-racism—continually confronting racism, in self and in others, policies, systems; a contender in the fight for racial justice; centering BIPOC voices; learning from individuals as well as scholarship; embracing intersectionality
  • Community mobilization—advocating and organizing for systemic change; convening the community around common values, a common mission, and a dynamic strategy
  • Continuous reflection—seeking the community’s expertise and growing in self-knowledge by consciously considering our own experiences, actions, feelings, and responses and our impact on the individuals, groups, and systems in which we engage and lead; broadening this reflection to accurately and continually diagnose the dynamic needs of those individuals, groups, and systems
  • Creativity—engaging, risking, experimenting, and persisting; using a design thinking approach to address complex challenges
  • Effective communication—listening and communicating regularly, proactively, clearly, inspirationally to engage hearts and minds for action
  • Ethics—exhibiting moral courage; practicing sound management and transparency; embracing human imperfection and uncertainty in the service of justice
  • Informed instruction—demonstrating data-driven and performance-based instructional leadership and deep commitment to the academic/intellectual/social/emotional/civic/ professional development of youth and adults
Graduate Credit

PSi partners with Cambridge College, which has developed and offers the Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership Certificate and awards graduate credit for interested PSi participants. Learn more.

MA Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL)

For participants seeking to qualify for Massachusetts principal licensure, PSi provides significant coaching support to complete PAL tasks through the apprenticeship track at no additional cost. Participants seeking to qualify for Massachusetts principal licensure are also required to arrange their own placement in a 500 hour apprenticeship under the supervision of a licensed principal in a Massachusetts public or charter school. Learn more at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education‘s website.

Expectations and Cost

August and April Intensives and Monthly Cohort Sessions

PSi requires participant attendance at, and active participation in, all PSi classroom sessions, field experiences, and events, including multi-day August and April Intensives and one or two full-day class sessions each month from September through June. In addition, participants will attend a 1- to 2-hour online Section Group meeting each month, to be scheduled. District Fellows will also have an additional 1- to 2-hour online meeting each month for district-specific conversations.

Monthly Assignments in Preparation for Sessions and Projects

On time completion of monthly reading and homework assignments in preparation for each session is required. Participants are notified of assignments at least one month in advance.

PSi Capstone Leadership Project

The PSi Capstone Leadership Project, which PSi builds toward throughout the year, is participant-driven and independently designed to suit the professional goals and interests of each individual in the cohort. The Capstone Leadership Project must: (1) address an opportunity for growth in the participant’s learning community AND (2) leverage a partnership between a community-based organization and their home organization. Participants are expected to develop a project that improves outcomes for youth and families using the resources of their home organization as well as a community-based organization.

Cost

Tuition for the Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership is $5,000 per individual—this represents only 45% of the actual cost of the program, which is subsidized by supporters of PSi.

We know programs like PSi require significant investment both in time and funds. Past participants have pursued financial support from many sources. Please do not let cost be a barrier to applying. Contact Lisa Sankowski if you would like to discuss cost.

District Fellowships

PSi partners directly with school districts that provide PSi district fellowships tailored to meet each district’s leadership development goals. If you are an employee of our current partner districts (Chelsea, Framingham, or Somerville), or if you are a district leader interested in establishing a partnership with PSi, please contact Lisa Sankowski for more information.

About Vito Perrone and Ted Sizer

Vito Perrone

    Vito Perrone was a professor of education at the University of North Dakota and Harvard University. He was a leading advocate for humanistic and regimentation – free public education. Upon receiving an award from the Cambridge Peace Commission, he spoke of his apprehension about public school systems that encourage teachers to “accept the message of test scores rather than go beyond them.” He always used questions to further his students’ thinking and in this instance asked, “What if our children and young people learn to read and write but don’t like to and don’t? What if they don’t read the newspapers and magazines, or can’t find beauty in a poem or love story? What if they don’t go as adults to artistic events, don’t listen to a broad range of music, aren’t optimistic about the world and their place in it, don’t notice the trees and the sunset, are indifferent to older citizens, don’t participate in politics or community life?” With a teacher’s rhetorical urgency, he added, “Should any of this worry us?” Vito mentored countless generations of emerging teachers and leaders. He is also the author of the book “Letters for Teachers.”

Ted Sizer

    Ted Sizer founded The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) in 1984 when he was the chair of the education department at Brown University. At its height, CES had over 1,000 member schools in the US and around the world that subscribed to a set of 10 common principles such as: “Student as work; teacher as coach;” “Learn to use one’s mind well;” “Less is more: depth over coverage;” “Personalization.” These were revolutionary ideas in the early 1980s and many still consider CES’ focus on democracy and equity as essential to the healthy development of schools and communities. In 1994, with his wife, Nancy, they founded Francis W. Parker Charter School in Devens, Massachusetts. Sizer is best known for his trilogy of books: Horace’s Compromise, Horace’s School, and Horace’s Hope—that deeply influenced generations of progressive educators, school reformers and school leaders.

Testimonials

PSi has given me many tools, strategic, moral, and technical, to approach a whole host of ideas, problems, projects, etc. It has also given me a network of colleagues as well as an introduction to local leaders in Boston. It takes one out of the weeds of one’s own world/work and allows you to not only to get a bird’s eye view of your own work, but also a look at your work through the lenses of your teachers and colleagues. It forces you to be creative and vision-oriented as well as makes you practice how you articulate and advocate for your ideas. —Josue Gonzalez, Director of Education, Rockport Music
This program was the turning point in my career that I needed, and it gave me confidence and agency in my abilities as a leader in education. Everyone who is aspiring to leadership needs a program with mentors who can put a mirror up to you and help you find those aspects that you already have in yourself that will help you on your path towards leadership. —Michelle Brito, Principal, Mother Caroline Academy & Education Center
I wasn’t quite sure what journey I needed/wanted to be on at this juncture of my career. Wow, in the past year, my definition of myself as a leader radically changed and deepened. This program opened so many pathways for me as a practicing leader, renewed my confidence in actions that I have undertaken over the years, but also invigorated my desire to adopt new ways of leading both in the department that I run, as well as the arts organization as an entity. —Donna Glick, Huntington Theatre Company
The program asks you to think about the role that the arts and community organizations play in school leadership in way that traditional leadership programs do not. It also asks you to look deeply at one issue that you are passionate about and do a deep investigation into how to create change. —Rachel Eio, Brookline High School
My year with PSi was a transformative experience. The program gave me insight into the various dimensions and capacities of leadership. The particular artistic lenses that the program engages spoke directly to me as an artist and as a creative leader. It prepared me for a kind of leadership that I could not imagine prior and gave me the confidence to pursue my doctorate. —Brian Gellerstein, Cambridge Public Schools
The most important aspect for me was that there are skills, talents, and ways of thinking that I believe are latent within us all and, with the shared experiences provided by PSi, are teased out and strengthened into formidable tools. —Guy Michel Telemaque, Boston Arts Academy
My identities as an artist and community-based leader have carried into my work as an educator; namely my adaptive mindset, intentional collaborations, and vision for access and inclusion. [Through PSi] I have grown in two new areas that have been essential to my lens as an adaptive district-level leader: a deeper understanding of learning science, and focus on equity. —Rhianon Gutierrez, Digital Learning Specialist, Boston Public Schools

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