STEPHEN AJANI

**** ********* **, #**** *******, CA 94612

PHONE: 901-***-**** EMAIL: ac4f9x@r.postjobfree.com Stephen Ajani Page 1 of 2

EDUCATION

MASTER OF EDUCATION, HOWARD UNIVERSITY, Washington, DC Administration and Leadership, May 2004

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, Atlanta, GA Business Administration, Marketing Emphasis, May 2000 EXPERIENCE

NORTH OAKLAND COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL Oakland, CA June 2015- Present Head of School

• Manage and work collectively with staff, highlighting and developing strengths while holding them accountable to their goals and community success.

• Effectively serve as a coach and community builder; ensuring staff remain deeply committed to core values.

• Successfully transitioned school to being its own LEA for Special Education.

• Created a teacher and leadership pipeline.

• More than doubled the number of student applicants, increasing accessibility to all Oakland students.

• Spearheaded campaign to raise over $165,000 annually. ACHIEVEMENT SCHOOLS Memphis, TN November 2013- June 2015 Chief Program Officer

• Successfully identified and recruited two high performing principals.

• Established systems and practices to reduce expulsions from 22 to three in the first half of the year.

• Resolved 100% of district level parent complaints within 72 hours.

• Initiated the process of getting principals to agree to a common approach for the elementary schools. TENNESSEE CHARTER SCHOOL INCUBATOR Memphis, TN January 2013- November 2013 Education Entrepreneurs Fellow

• Participated in efforts resulting in charter application approval.

• Received high quality training on how to run a charter management organization.

• Recruited a principal with a track record of success.

• Successfully gained community support.

CAMDEN CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS Camden, NJ September 2012- June 2013 State Turn Around Coach

• Worked collaboratively with schools, the district and the NJDOE leadership to develop a strategic implementation plan for increasing student achievement in the lowest performing schools.

• Ensured systems and structures supported best practices for accelerating student learning.

• Assisted principals in implementing a standards-based curriculum, assessment, and intervention system.

• Provided professional learning opportunities in areas including, instructional leadership, effective teaching, monitoring and improving teacher effectiveness, school climate and the use of data. KIPP NYC New York, NY August 2011- January 2013 Director of Community Engagement & Advocacy

• Established 14 community partnerships.

• Collaborated with DOE principals, elected officials, and community groups to ensure a smooth transition for KIPP into co-located buildings and new communities. Stephen Ajani Page 2 of 2

• Coached principals to ensure all schools met student recruitment targets and increased their school’s presence in the community.

• Built positive relationships between our schools and the Community Education Council for their district.

• Effectively designed and implemented a community engagement plan across four school districts.

• Successfully lead efforts which resulted in over 20 percent of KIPP NYC parents registering to vote. KIPP ACADEMY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL New York, NY August 2008- August 2011 Founding Co-Principal

• Accepted into the highly selective KIPP Fisher Fellowship Program, 6 months early.

• Created and implemented student recruitment plan that lead to 1652 applications for 109 open seats.

• Established a performance management system that ensured a strong school culture and stakeholder investment ultimately yielding the following results:

o Ranked in top 3 of all KIPP elementary schools in both reading and math. o Top rated school in KIPP by families.

o 2% student attrition.

• Created a leadership pipeline to ensure bench depth in all critical positions. ACHIEVEMENT FIRST Elm City College Prep Elementary School New Haven, CT August 2007- August 2008 Interim Principal

• Tasked to take over the lowest performing elementary school in the Achievement First network.

• Achieved the 2nd highest performing elementary school ranking within a year.

• Led efforts to prepare for the 1st year of state testing, resulting in the school being ranked #1 in the state in 3rd grade scores for African American students and 5th for low income students. ACHIEVEMENT FIRST Amistad Academy Elementary School New Haven, CT August 2006 - August 2007 Founding Dean of Students

• Assisted in opening, recruiting and hiring for a first-year charter school, using knowledge gained from opening Elm City College Prep.

• Learned how to give real time feedback and adjust feedback style for the receiver effectively.

• Achieved the highest kindergarten math scores in the network in its first year. ACHIEVEMENT FIRST Elm City College Prep Elementary School New Haven, CT August 2005- August 2006 Dean of Students

• Established a positive, structured, achievement-oriented, and fun school culture.

• Coached teachers to improve their instructional practice, especially as it related to issues of discipline, relationships with students, and school culture.

• Ensured all students had excellent attendance by working diligently with students and parents and keeping extremely accurate attendance records.

• Met with all new parents before the start of the school year to emphasize that Achievement First Schools are different; highlighting the responsibilities of parents, teachers, and students. ACHIEVEMENT FIRST Elm City College Prep Elementary School New Haven, CT August 2004- August 2005 Founding Kindergarten Teacher

• Responsible for teaching reading, history, math, science, and character development to a group of twenty-five kindergarten students. At the end of the year all of the students in the class were reading on or above grade level. CHARLES H. HOUSTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL New York, NY August 2001- August 2004 Second Grade Teacher

• Responsible for classroom instruction of math, reading, English, science, social studies, and character development to an average of twenty-three students per year.

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